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.

9. Chapter 8

"Master, a mountain exists to be climbed, it stands before you to be seen as a gateway that must be climbed and overcome, to stand as a testament to how far you have come along, whether it be as a person, a duelist, or whatever it is you seek to prove yourself as. Until you have overcome this challenge, that mountain must remain in your path… because none of us can know what our limits are yet, until we meet that mountain that we cannot yet climb above."

"Master, what kind of mountain will stand against you to help inspire you to climb higher?"

= Chapter 8 Prologue =

A Private jet flew through the skies late at night, so late that it was actually now 'early' in the morning, but the sun had yet to peak above the horizon and grace the beautiful world it shined on with its warm and comforting light. While most private jets and planes looked all the same, this particular jet was the guise of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but this particular one was far more 'cartoonish' and far more entertaining to watch with its big grin at the nose of the plane. On board the jet were an elite crew of engineers and their equipment traveling express to Duel Academy Island, where they were to set up the card creation equipment and stations necessary to reprint all the cards on Duel Academy Island that were being changed in this latest month's reprint changes.

But sitting in a private dining room and tasting a delicious breakfast of pancakes topped with fresh maple syrup straight from Canada, a glass of the world's finest fruit juice…

"Along with a copy of my favorite comic book… the latest issue in fact!" Maximillion Pegasus said as he turned the page, before laughing happily at the zany antics of his favorite cartoon character. "Where do they get their ideas… that one was hilarious, a classic mallet to the face with a pancake toothy grin, leading into Ruff Ruff McDog falling flat on his back, onto a conveniently placed button that says, 'smash here', resulting in a giant mallet whacking him right after from nowhere! Buahahahhaaa… these writers never run out of gag ideas even after forty-five seasons! I love Funny Bunny!"

He turned the page and only contained his laughter behind a growing smirk for half a second before busting out a big one so hard he had to slow down, or he'd have a coughing fit. Unfortunately, he was interrupted as his assistant knocked on the door and interrupted him, opening the door and walking in.

"A thousand pardons Sir, but as we will be landing at Duel Academy Island within the hour, I figured it would be best to alert you of our status as well as to perform a final check of the balance changes to cards for the various cards the duelists." Croquet said as he walked in with a notebook.

"French recipe pancakes with fresh Canadian imported maple syrup seasoned with the softest butter the world has to offer and the world's finest fruit juice… along with a copy of my favorite comic book at the breakfast table. You do know Croquet that times like this are rare and as such are special to me, and I do not like being interrupted?" Pegasus asked with a 'slight' growl, but he didn't blame him he was only doing his job like he asked him to do.

"I once again beg for your pardon sir, but I am only doing as you requested, which was to inform you of these details an hour prior to our arrival."

"I know, let me finish this last chapter first to see how it ends." He replied as he took a sip of his drink and flicked the page.

He smiled and chuckled as Funny Bunny pulled a fast one and dressed up as Ruff Ruff McDog, hid behind an open picture frame, pretended to be a reflection of him and then made his getaway! It ended with McDog cursing bunny and yelling that he will get him one day.

"Ahhh Ruff Ruff McGruff, so close but you never will catch Funny Bunny, no matter how many episodes… oh you try and try but never will you succeed…" He chuckled as he closed the book and accepted the notebook.

"As you requested the 'complete' list of cards receiving their changes has been compiled, these are the cards known to be used by duelists on the island as well as various cards that we know 'are' on the island, whether they have been used in the past three months or not. We've also compiled another list of cards that have been given changes or have rulings dictating them to be distributed among the student body at large."

"Very good, hmmm quite a few cards being nerfed this year, oh the poor duelists who will be moaning at the loss of power among their favorite cards. As a parent it pains me to have to do such acts on all of these beloved cards, but in the interests of fair play, it is necessary."

"It is understandable sir, but may I ask why 'you' must venture to Duel Academy Island personally to oversee this operation? I'm positive a team of judges and field workers from Kaiba Corp would be just as efficient; you need not concern yourself with such a lowly task as this."

"That may be, but I have 'special' reasons for being here." He muttered as he flipped the page and looked at a group of cards 'circled' by his request.

They were the Dragonmaid cards.

"May I inquire as to 'why' you are going to duel academy island eminence?"

"Simple Croquet, because while I can leave the reprinting of cards to others, there is a selection of cards that are far too valuable, far too important, and far too precious to 'me' as the creator of Duel Monsters to leave in the hands of others. They require 'special' hands and 'delicate' attention to their finer details that other cards don't require, that only I can provide."

'And more importantly, I want to meet the first duelist in the entire world that I've heard of to have gathered 'all' of the Dragonmaids to himself.' He said with a smile.

= Chapter 8, Zane vs Joseph =

= Discovering the Limit, Roar of the Cyber End Dragon =

The school duel was just over a week away, and Joseph was currently reading over the new card regulation and rulings in the school library to try and hide away from all of the other students. That was of course what he 'wanted' to do, but next to him was a pile of books with various cards listed and talking about their various effects, with some of them theorizing how they could be used in combinations outside of their respected intentions that he was trying to cram while he had peace and quiet in the library. What he really wanted to do however, was just lie down in bed and sleep as he knew he was not going to be able to remember ANY of this stuff.

That was of course not barring all of the sudden help his friends were giving him now.

"Hey Joseph, have you given some thought to my idea about including some of my Cyber Angels in your deck?" Alexis asked cheerfully.

"You know you can always borrow some of my Vehicroids to give your deck a boost!" Syrus politely offered.

"What about my Kooalas, you want to use some of mine for your deck, you can't go wrong with them bro, they're totally awesome!" Chumley also suggested.

"How about my Water Dragon Cluster, you saw how it worked in my duel against you?" Bastion also offered.

"Come on guys, I have over a week to prepare, I can't learn fifty different strategies in that small span of time, give me a break…" He muttered as he scribbled away some notes on a notepad. "I just want some lunch and to relax and sleep…"

"Yea, you should have some lunch. Why don't we head over to the café and eat lunch and then… you can practice using my Cyber Angels!" Alexis said, holding up Cyber Angel Vrash.

"Or you can practice with my Vehicroids!"

"You can have 'two' copies of Des Koala!"

"You can't go wrong with Water Dragon Cluster, or its two Water Dragon duplicates!"

"Guuuuhuh…" Joseph complained as he faceplanted into the table.

After a few minutes Sheou walked up to him with a tray of food and drinks for him and the others, smiling humbly as she approached and planted the food for them before starting to serve drinks. He knew that Sheou was aware of his struggles, and he was happy that she'd been constantly helping him by bringing food, drink, and making his time bearable while studying. She would even play the violin when he was alone with her to help take his mind off the stress of all this studying, alongside completing his homework that his teachers 'still' gave him despite having no classes since he was chosen for the school duel.

"Pardon my interruption Young Master and friends, but it is time to take a break for lunch." Sheou said as she sliced up his food before serving him.

"Finally…" He muttered as he pushed his stuff to the edge of the table and took the plate Sheou prepared for him. "I've been starving…"

'Read write, read write! Day in day out, study study study! When are we going to relax and have fun!' Tinkech complained as she floated next to him while Sheou walked off to get something.

'Master is working hard to prepare for the upcoming school duel, you can't blame him for working hard!' Nudyarl told Tinkech as she flopped onto his head.

'But all of this studying is getting to master, he can't possibly maintain a healthy mindset if he has no time for himself!' Ernus muttered worriedly as she floated behind his shoulder.

'Well master should get some time to himself; all of this studying is bad for him!' Lorpar stated as she flopped onto his other shoulder now.

"You have no idea…" He whispered to them as quietly as possible.

"I have to say Kite is really good when it comes to the kitchen, she knows how to cook." Alexis said as she munched on her steak.

"Yea, she is sooo good, she's like my dream girl!" Chumley agreed as he chowed on his grilled cheese.

"Every girl who can cook is your dream girl Chumley." Syrus muttered.

"To be fair, how many girls out there can make a five-course meal plan for a group of students at the drop of a hat, just based purely on their previous preferred preferences that she observed in a café, may I remind you, only over a short time period of a few hours, while taking orders from the entire student body and school faculty?" Bastion stated.

'Hngeeeeee' Tinkech snickered with a grin while the other dragon spirits rolled their eyes.

Suddenly a slow musical score began sounding through the library, and they all turned to see Sheou with her eyes closed and stroking the strings of a Dolphin Stradivarius violin with her horse-haired bow. She played a soothing tune that captured everyone's attention as she focused all of her efforts into stringing that music from the violin, she played for them.

As she played, he breathed a small sigh of relief as he just let the music soothe his hectic thoughts that had been piling up that day. Alongside him his feminine draconic friends shifted their heads from side to side in tandem with the sounds of the music Sheou was playing for them, smiling softly and enjoying the performance.

Sheou rarely played the Violin for him very much, she occasionally did it when he was still at the café, though it was well into the night. When he found her playing, he asked why she was playing so late, as it was nearly four in the morning, and she simply replied, "I play young master, because this is the only way I have found to share my emotions with the world, in a way that can be heard."

When he asked what she meant by that, she simply smiled and said, that it was something she could not explain no matter how hard she could try.

But after that she would play it to help him sleep, now she played it because of all the stress from the studying getting to him. He'd been struggling with his studies, not to mention with all of the pressure people were putting on him to win, as well as all of the Slifers cheering him on and saying he's going to make Slifer Reds a dorm worthy of respect finally, and of course his friends constantly trying to help him improve his deck…

He started humming the tune of the music Sheou played for them on her violin. Soon he was saying his head ever so slightly in turn with his dragon friends, and after a while his other friends silently joined in as the music affected them soon after. For nearly half an hour Sheou played for them, letting the music of her melody touch their spirits and lighten their mood, or at least for Joseph, distract him from his troubles. When she finally stopped all of them applauded her performance, just as his dragonmaid friends vanished.

"Thank you for the ovation, but please, my humble performance was not worthy of such praise." She declared as she bowed to them. "I merely wished to provide entertainment for you all while you ate your lunch, I only hope it was to your liking and satisfaction."

"You call 'that' unworthy of praise?" Alexis asked. "I've never heard something so beautifully played before."

"Indeed, for a woman of your musical talents, why would you ever want to not show those talents off? You could play in an orchestra, travel the world, perform before audiences across all the continents!" Bastion questioned as she put it away.

"While I appreciate your input Mister Bastion, I have only ever aspired to be a humble maid, nothing more than that." She said with a smile. "I am happiest serving Young Master Joseph as his personal maid, my heart longs for nothing more than that now, to be of service is a pleasure and reward all its own to me." She then bowed one more time before saying, "I will return in a bit, I must prepare a few things for tonight."

"And just like that, back to studying." He muttered as he pulled his stuff back toward him.

"I still say Joseph you should totally include my Cyber Angels into your deck, a bit more girl power can't hurt!"

"My Vehicroids can handle anything you need them to!"

"How about some Koala power for your deck?"

"Don't forget how Water Dragon Cluster almost cleaned you out in one turn!"

'Save me someone…' He begged.

After an hour of working, looking over the cards his friends were trying to get him to use in his deck, trying to figure out how he could use them if he 'did' accept their offers, and feeling pain and agony in his brain, Sheou came back with a surprise face, Syrus' brother, Zane Truesdale.

"Pardon me Young Master, but Zane Truesdale wished to speak with you, he says it's important." Sheou said politely.

"Oh, what's up?" He asked as everyone looked over.

"Hi Joseph, sorry for interrupting you but…" He paused as he looked at the cards on the table and various books, notes, and everything else dueling related lying around. "Why are you trying to incorporate unbalanced elements into your deck process?"

"What?"

Zane sighed as he walked over and sat down opposite him. "You're trying to add cards that don't synchronize with your deck at all, is what I mean Joseph. Your deck has a very specific build that you were familiar with and worked very well for your playstyle, but you're trying to incorporate and mix different elements and components from other decks into it that aren't designed to work with your deck at all. Alexis, Joseph's deck isn't meant to use Ritual monsters. Bastion, to even use your specific monster requires Jospeh obtain its core pieces on the field which his deck can't easily search out and keep safe. Chumley, you're Koalas aren't designed to work with the Dragonmaid's playstyle to begin with. Syrus, your Vehicroids are good, but they don't function well in Joseph's deck again, because of how different your playstyles are."

He quickly pulled out the cards his friends were trying to get him to use and handed them back to their owners, before carefully taking Joseph's cards and handing them back to him.

"I understand you all want to help him with his deck, you want to help improve it, make it stronger for the upcoming school duel, but this is not the way." He said. "Joseph's deck is already built in such a way that any deviation will ruin what deck synch it has to the point where it's power is substantially weaker."

"Uhm… thank you for that… uh… talk, but what are you here for again?" Joseph asked curiously, wondering why Zane was being so 'forward' with how his deck was built.

"Sorry about that, as I was saying, Doctor Crowler asked me to assist you and tutor you for the next few days." Zane told him. "He's pulled some strings and he's given both of us the next three days off, no classes, no lesson plans, no assignments, nothing."

"Wait what?!"

=Flashback, earlier that day=

"You want me to 'teach' Joseph?" Zane asked Doctor Crowler in his office.

"Yes, as you know the school duel is the most important duel our academy has at this point in the year. We can't afford to risk 'anything' to chance, which is why I'm asking you, Duel Academy's top student to assist Takara in getting ready for the duel!" Crowler said.

"Very well, where is Joseph now?"

"You'll find him in the library, studying. Take him over to the Obelisk Blue Dorms so you can help him in private Zane, I've gone ahead and cleared both of your schedules for the next three days."

"Thank you, Professor." He said as he walked out, leaving Doctor Crowler alone in his office.

Crowler turned toward the door and smirked.

"I've been pushing that lad for a while now, whether it be tests, homework, lessons, everything I've done has been to see just how far he can rise, and I'm going to 'keep' testing him. That's where you come in Zane, you're the strongest Duel Academy has to offer, this is also your last year here… I want to see it… see you 'both' dueling for your Final Graduation Duel on that stage. I want to see the power of your Cyber Dragons, take on the Dragonmaids, and to see if he is truly the duelist I believe he could become. He needs a hand to guide him, he needs someone to test him, to push him to his limits and beyond, to give him something to aspire to overcome and reach new heights! As a teacher… a professor at this academy… nothing inspires me more than to see a pupil 'I' raised, trained, molded, rise and become a legend. Joseph has inspired me to do this, so I'm going to keep pushing him with everything in my arsenal. It's been a while since I've felt this feeling, and that is why I'm asking you to help him, Zane."

=Flashback ends=

"So, starting tomorrow I'd like you to come over to the Obelisk Blue dorms, where you'll be able to focus on preparing for the upcoming school duel in 'private'." Zane said.

"Awesome." Joseph said as he imagined what it must be like inside of the Obelisk Blue Dorms.

"Doctor Crowler really asked you to help Joseph out Zane?" Syrus said.

"Yea, it wasn't exactly what I planned on doing, but when the head of Obelisk Blue asks you to do something, best to do it." Zane said as he started getting up. "Now then, I suggest you all head over to the main building, the card reprint stations are finished being set up."

"Card reprint stations?" Joseph asked.

"OH nooooooo, tell me its not true, please tell me my Vehicroids are safe, please tell me my Vehicroids are safe?" Syrus screamed.

"Did my Cyber Angels get through the nerf net?" Alexis asked.

"I hate the nerf net, I just hope my monsters got through unscathed, or at least with 'reasonable' changes." Bastion said.

"Oh yea… the nerf net, surprisingly Koala monsters never get hit, wonder why?" Chumley muttered.

"Nerf net?"

Zane smiled slightly as he pulled a little book out of his pocket. "The nerf net is what we duelists call it, every few months a list of cards has to be reprinted and changed because certain lines of texts or effects are changed on them. Sometimes it's serious, but most often it's just a clarification on a few cards needing to be written and worded differently. Sorry to say Syrus but, Kiteroid got hit with the 'once per turn' nerf dart."

"Oh, not Kiteroid…" Syrus moaned as he looked at the list of cards and moaned at Kiteroid's picture with the nerf text.

"Looks like my Cyber Angels made it through intact, but one of my magic cards got the nerf dart." Alexis sighed.

"Looks like I managed to scrap through this net intact with my cards, though some of them need to have their texts reprinted for clarity's sake, beginner duelists always get confused with high end card effects." Bastion muttered.

"Wow, I didn't know such a thing went on." Joseph said as his dragon friends appeared next to him.

'Well at least we're safe.' Nudyarl muttered.

'Can't nerf us, we're the only ones in the world.' Lorpar said.

'It's so nice being exclusive cards for only our master!' Ernus grinned.

'We're too cute to nerf!' Tinkech said with a smirk.

"Hey… what's this?" Syrus said as he flipped the page. "Wait a minute… Joseph your cards are in here as well!"

"Say what?" Joseph asked.

'WHAT?!' All four of the dragons said in shock.

"That's the other thing I came down here for, see Joseph, your cards are also getting hit with the reprint nerfs." Zane said as he was handed the little book now.

"Huh?" He said as he read the changes being made with all four of his dragons.

'What, they're nerfing 'me'?' Tinkech yelled indignantly.

'They're nerfing all of us…' Nudyarl moaned.

'At least we only got hit with this 'once per turn' nerf.' Lorpar said.

'And at least its only our maid forms, no loss there…' Ernus whispered as she patted Tinkech's shoulder.

'NO LOSS THERE, LOOK WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO ME!' Tinkech complained.

"Kitchen Dragonmaid, changes include the following, after drawing a targeted Dragonmaid monster into the hand, must now discard a Dragonmaid monster from the hand to the graveyard. She's essentially Parlor Dragonmaid but with a bonus." He said. "Sendoff can now only target a Dragonmaid monster to special summon to the field from the hand, but at least the monster doesn't have to leave the field at the end of the turn, and it still retains the protection it gets until the end of the next turn. Tidying can only activate one effect per turn, and only once per turn. And Welcome now activates its effect if its ever sent to the grave, even if sent there by laundry's effect. Huh, House is still in the clear, she's not getting changed at all."

'This is ridiculous, we're the only ones in the world, why do 'we' have to get nerfed!?' Tinkech roared in anger while Nudyarl and Lorpar started restraining her. 'Where's the management, leme at em, I'll give them a piece of my mind, nerf me, how dare they?'

'We all got nerfed, it's not pretty but that's how it goes!' Lorpar said with a strained voice.

'Master wants to duel professionally; we have to take the good with the bad for his sake!' Nudyarl also groaned as she helped restrain Tinkech.

'It could have been worse… at least our dragon forms were spared.' Ernus muttered.

"Wait… even my 'dragon forms' got nerfed?" He said as he flipped the page. "Oh, they're just getting the 'once per turn' nerf text as well… no loss there really. Least it's better to clarify that I can only discard them for their effects once per turn."

Ernus smiled awkwardly as the other three turned toward her with flames in their eyes and angry draconic auras raging around them. 'Grrrr you haaad to jinx it didn't you?' They all screamed in unison before dogpiling her and beating her up in a comical cloud where all anyone could see, if they could see them, were swirling tails and flailing wings.

"So uh, how does 'reprinting' work?" Joseph asked as he let his dragons get it out of their systems.

"I'll explain on the way." Zane said as he and the others began leaving while Sheou packed his notes into a case and walked behind him with her arms folded before her.

Upstairs students were complaining to each other about the new reprinting rules and duel regulations regarding some of their cards, others were breathing sighs of relief as their cards were safe, and others were looking sadly at their cards' effects for the last time before they would be changed. In the main hall were also reprinting stations where students were lining up, handing over the cards needing to be reprinted and changed, and then waiting for new cards to be handed back to them. Croquet was sweeping the entire hall at every student, looking for a single student that he had no clue when they would be appearing or even if they'd show up, but he had a job to do, as he was quickly reminded of when his phone rang.

"Yes Mr. Pegasus?"

"Has the duelist with the Dragonmaid cards arrived yet?"

"Not yet Mr. Pegasus, but I've got the crews all checking each and every card and duelist as they come, per your instructions."

"Make sure they are aware that the moment one of them spots the cards, to 'confirm' that the duelist is in fact the owner, and that they are brought to me straight away." Pegasus said. "It is imperative that I be the only one to lay even a finger on those cards, besides the owner of course!"

"As you wish sir." Croquet said as he hung up as several more students walked in.

Joseph got in line with Syrus, Alexis, Chumley and Zane with several dozen other students heading toward one of the 'reprinting stations' which looked like oversized mechanical chambers. While they waited Zane was explaining the process of how they reprinted all of the cards for duelists.

"Basically, how it works is this, a duelist's card is inserted into the feeding slot, where its then identified, and then it is 'reprinted' but with the correct information on it. Essentially the card is the same, but 'newer' and obviously more accurate."

"What happens to the old card?"

"Usually they are incinerated, since they aren't viable in decks anymore after the rulings and reprints are announced." Alexis explained as they moved forward.

"Incinerated?" He whispered nervously.

"Yea, not fun, but at least we get replacement cards." She said.

"But these cards are important to me, I don't want to see them incinerated." He told them as the dragons appeared once more.

'Do we have to see our cards burned up?' Tinkech asked.

'I mean, we get 'new' cards… it's just… different words are written on them, right?' Lorpar questioned.

'But I like my card…' Ernus moaned.

'I like my card too…' Lorpar said as she patted Ernus' shoulder.

"I know, but when you want to get into the pro league, you have to make a few sacrifices Joseph." Alexis said with an understanding smile. "How about we ask them if they can let you keep the originals even after the reprint, maybe we'll get lucky?"

"I hope they let me keep them, these cards are like family to me." He told her.

"There is another way to look at it young master." Sheou said sweetly to him, causing him to look at her. "The cards may get reprinted, and the originals may be incinerated, but the spirits of those cards are forever with you. So long as you carry them, the spirits of the Dragonmaids are forever with you young master."

The dragons all floated in front of him as he looked forward when the line began moving, 'Yea, just cause our current cards may go away, doesn't mean 'we' won't leave you master~!' Nudyarl purred.

'We're not leaving you 'ever' master~!' Ernus said lovingly.

'We like being with you, so we're sticking with you~!' Tinkech said with a smile.

'Don't worry master, we'll be here for you no matter what.' Lorpar nodded in agreement.

He knew he couldn't reply to them, not in public at least with Sheou, Alexis, Chumley, Syrus and every other student around him, but he nodded and smiled gratefully. They were right, this was just another part of being a duelist, you have to accept that some of your cards will be changed as time goes on.

"Listen, I know I have to get my card reprinted, but can I please keep my father's Sinister Serpent card." Someone in front of them asked in a pleading voice. "This was my dad's favorite card, and he gave it to me as my very first card, it's priceless to me, please just let me keep it at least! I promise I won't use it in duels."

"Sigh, alright you can keep it, but be advised that it is forbidden from being used in future duels, if you attempt to play it during a duel it will automatically end, and you will be penalized accordingly. Also, if you attempt to bring this card into a tournament and it is discovered, you will be barred from competing afterwards." The guy working the station said.

"Sweet, thank you so much!" The student said, and as they walked by, he saw that it was an Obelisk Blue student who was smiling happily as he held onto a card while carefully placing it in a card holder that hung around his neck like a necklace.

"Wow, even Obelisk blue students get emotional with their cards?"

"Just because we're Obelisk Blue Joseph, doesn't mean we don't have that one card that we have sentimental attachment to. We may play to win, and use the best cards 'to' win, but we also have a card or two that we just can't stand to not have with us." Zane said.

"I can see that."

They proceeded onward in the line, and once they were there he watched as his friends handed over their cards one by one to be reprinted and incinerated. First was Syrus who took one last look at his Kiteroids before handing them over, waving goodbye to them, and then after a few minutes received new copies of the monster but with the 'updated' texts. Alexis stepped forward and handed over copies of her magic card that needed to be reprinted, and then after a few more minutes she was given her replacements.

When it came to his turn, he took one last look at his Dragonmaids, and then tried to hand them over to the operator.

"Here you go sir."

The second the operator saw his cards he did a double take and then looked at his computer to check something. "Sir, are you the owner of these cards?" He asked.

"Uhm, yes?" He asked nervously.

"Please forgive me but I just need to once again confirm, you are the 'true' owner of these cards, meaning there is no other duelist here who owns these cards, and you are not taking them here for that duelist?"

"Yes?"

'He just said yes, stop torturing us by making us wait longer to see our cards reprinted already!' Tinkech yelled at him angrily to his face, even though nobody but Joseph could see her.

The guy nodded but didn't take the cards from him, instead he pulled out his phone, dialed a number and then whispered something quietly to someone on the other end of it before hanging up. After a few moments students were parting as someone walked through toward them, an older adult wearing 'sunglasses' and in a suit who seemed to be in charge of everything with how the others were acknowledging him at his approach.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but I was told that you are the owner of the Dragonmaid cards?" He asked to which Joseph once again said 'yes' he was their owner. "My name is Croquet, if you will please take your cards and follow me."

Joseph was about to do as he said, when Sheou placed her hand on his shoulder and stood before him, with an unusually stern look on her face.

"Where do you intend on taking Joseph and those cards, unless I'm mistaken all reprints are to be done 'here' in the public space of the main hall, we have not been informed of any other location where card reprints are being done." She said calmly.

"We have a 'special' place that has been set aside for those particular cards ma'am." Croquet said. "If you will follow me alone sir, I was given explicit instruction to take you and those cards to…"

"Wherever you intend to take him and those cards, I will be following, as his personal maid 'and' as his only legal guardian, I am not letting you take him anywhere that I cannot go as well." Sheou said even 'more' sternly. "Those cards belong to him and no other, with how important they are I won't risk you stealing them from him under his nose and then giving him fakes while you make off with the originals!"

"Wait… that's a thing?" He asked her.

"Why yes, I read it in a newspaper article one time!" She said with a smile.

"Sheou, who reads the newspaper nowadays…" He deadpanned.

"I beg your pardon ma'am but…" Croquet said as his phone rang, causing him to pause and answer it. "Yes sir… yes sir but there's a minor complication. I know sir but, well there's a woman here and she insists on… I… y… yes sir, I understand completely, right away sir." He then hung up and turned to them. "Uh… if you will 'both' follow me please."

He nodded and together, he and Sheou followed Croquet past all of the other students, leaving his friends behind.

"Wonder what that was about?" Syrus asked.

"I don't know, wonder why Sheou was so adamant about staying with Joseph?" Alexis said. "I know those cards are rare and valuable but, come on its just reprinting, does she really think someone would try to make 'fakes' here at Duel Academy of all places?"

"Hmmm…" Zane whispered as he watched them leave.

Joseph walked down the hallway, up a flight of stairs, down another corridor until he began noticing that they were heading for Chancellor Shepard's office. When they reached the door Croquet knocked on the door a few times before announcing, "Forgive me for the interruption, but the duelist with the Dragonmaids has arrived sir."

"Wonderful, let him in!" A 'cheerful' voice said from within.

Croquet opened the door and beckoned him and Sheou inside, where they were met by Chancellor Shepard sitting at his desk. "Joseph my boy, welcome, come on in." He said cheerfully.

"Uhm, am I in… trouble?" He asked nervously.

"Not at all lad, not at all, it's just that because of your cards we needed to have you come here instead of down there."

"We?"

"Hmmhmmhmhm." Someone chuckled to his left and he and Sheou turned to see a man with white hair that covered the left side of his face, a maroon-colored suit with frills and smiling as he approached him and Sheou. "Joseph-Boy is it, a pleasure to meet you face to face, I don't think my introduction is necessary, but let me introduce myself anyway, I am Maximillion Pegasus."

"Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters himself?" He said, speechless.

"Yes, and I am happy to make your acquaintance at last." Pegasus said as he shook his hand.

"But, why 'me'?"

"Is it not obvious, what else would it be, your Dragonmaids of course, you 'do' have them don't you?" He said to which Joseph nodded and said he did. "May I see them please?"

Joseph pulled out his cards and offered them to Pegasus, but he slipped the House Dragonmaid out of the group and back into his hand without even touching it. "You can keep the House Dragonmaid card, the others are what I'm concerned with."

He nodded and kept House while Pegasus looked at the other cards one by one, carefully handling them with 'gloved' hands. As he gazed upon each one his smile only grew stronger, and for a moment he even seemed to have a small tear leave his eyes. After he looked upon each one, he nodded and handed them all back to him.

"Joseph, as the creator of Duel Monsters, nothing fills me with pride and joy, and a sense of accomplishment as well, then to see cards I myself created in such tender care as yours being used in duels. But nothing fills me with a deeper happiness then to see a set of cards all together in a single deck for the first time ever. I've never seen all of these beautiful cards that I myself created in a single deck ever. It absolutely fills me with joy the likes of which you cannot fathom, to see that they're all together at long last with 'you'."

"Wait, I'm the first to get all of them together?" He asked.

"Yes, you see Joseph when I first made those cards, it was my dearest hope to see them all together in a single deck, but alas… that dream never came true until now." He said as he walked over to a covered-up painting that had a towel draped over it. "You're the first to assemble them all and seeing them all together makes this trip all the more worth it. Until now I've never seen even '1' of them in anyone's deck. And it's such a shame too, after all the effort I put into those works of art like this!"

He pulled the towel off the painting and Joseph gasped in awe, as he stared at a beautiful hand drawn oil painting, featuring the art of Dragonmaid Send Off. Five of his Dragonmaids were featured in stunning realism via that painting that defied what the card itself was even capable of. He could see the tufts of fur on Laundry's tail, the spiky points on Laundry's tail, the smooth stubs on Nurse's tail, Kitchens pointy spikes upon her tail, and finally the white draconic point of House's tail in perfect clarity. He could make out Laundry's eye still open in the art, Nurse with her hand upon Laundry's back keeping her bowing, Parlor and Kitchen smiling humbly, and House's warm and welcoming smile mixed with a tint of sadness, as if she were sad to see whoever it was they were 'sending off' leaving them. It was so beautiful that he couldn't believe how poorly the card did the painting justice.

"Wow, it's amazing." He told him.

"Yes, you can see 'why' I came to see them now, I'm like a parent, wanting to check up on his children. I'm so happy that you finally brought them all together, and more importantly that you are using them in duels."

"Hey, about that, you said I'm the first but… who's owned them before and, why would anyone ever let these cards go, they're so nice and pretty and just why?" He asked as his Dragonmaids appeared around him.

"Hmmm, tell me Joseph, do you believe there's 'magic' in these cards?"

"Uhm… I guess?"

'What, you don't think we're magical enough for you?' Tinkech asked sarcastically.

'Maybe we should be sparkly and wear miniskirts?' Ernus laughed.

'I wouldn't mind that now that you mention it.' Nudyarl said.

'I think I'd look good in a miniskirt.' Lorpar stated.

"Joseph, there 'is' magic in these cards, believe me. Those cards are proof, they don't just pick 'any' duelist to be with, none of them will follow just 'any' duelist out there, only one who they feel is capable of taking care of them and protecting them can command them. Sometimes it's the card that picks the duelist, not the reverse." Pegasus said with a smile. "Tell me, did you ever actually find them while trying to look for them?"

"Huh…" He whispered. "Wait, I 'did' happen to find these cards in the most awkward of places… and without even trying to find them."

Pegasus nodded knowingly. "That's them finding you, choosing you, the cards chose to be with you Joseph-Boi. They chose you because they decided you were worthy to have them, they chose you, no one else." He said before holding out his hands, "But enough about that, let's get on with the business of what I really came here for and brought you here for, may I have those cards to be reprinted?"

He nodded and handed over the cards that were to be reprinted, and after Pegasus carefully extracted each of them from the group, he placed them one by one into a reprinting machine. Then he put on a special helmet and looked extremely focused on whatever it was he was seeing behind his lens.

"Hmm, beautiful, wonderful… as lovely as I remember painting each of you." He muttered. "Yes, a bit of this, change that, rephrase this and add that… annnnnn done!"

After a few moments the reprinting machine began working and churning out reprints of the cards, he heard the machine's incinerator turn on, but seconds after a slot on the side became filled with new cards that were stacked perfectly. Pegasus pulled out the cards, took off the helmet and put on a magnifying glass to his eye, allowing him to check each of the cards one by one. He was examining each and every card, looking up and down, left and right, backside and front side, he even examined the edges to make sure they were 'perfect', and when he was finally satisfied, he smiled and handed them back to Joseph.

"Wow." He said.

'I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.' Tinkech said. 'Still mad about my nerf.'

'Got to take the good with the bad.' Nudyarl agreed.

'At least we all got nerfed together!' Ernus told them.

'Well nearly all of us.' Lorpar stated.

"So anyway, can I ask who owned them before me? Who did you give them to?" Joseph asked again as he never got his answer.

"About that, you see Joseph-Boy, when I first created the cards… I never gave them to any singular duelist." Pegasus said with a sigh. "No, I created the cards and then right after they were all done, I simply let them go into the world, to let the winds of fate and destiny lead them to where they may find themselves a new home! It was my hope upon letting them go that they'd find a duelist worthy to wield them all, but… well I've never seen any duelist with them until today."

"But why, they're so beautiful and everyone wants them?" Joseph asked.

"Who knows, perhaps people want them for other reasons than besides to use them in duels. Who's to say, what I do know is that I am glad to finally see them in your deck Jospeh, now… take good care of them, and never let anyone take them away from you." Pegasus said with a smile.

"Of course, I would never let anything bad happen to these cards." He said to Pegasus. "These cards are like my family… they remind me a little of… well Sheou, and her coworkers, the girls who work at the café who treated me like their little brother even though we didn't know each other at all at first." He pulled out House to look at her warm kind expression, smiling as she seemed to look back at him. "They each remind me of them, House reminds me of Sheou, always there no matter what for example. I know no matter how hard a duel I may find myself… House will always be there to help me if I but ask. Kind of like you Sheou!"

Sheou chuckled back in response as she nodded lovingly at him, "Yes young Joseph, if you ever need my help for anything, I'll be there to help you."

"With that said, thank you for coming here, and now go forth young duelist, the world of dueling awaits you!" Pegasus said dramatically.

He deadpanned alongside his dragonmaid friends, who all had looks of 'is he for real?' on their faces.

So, with that finished he finally left the chancellor's office with Sheou and his cards, leaving the CEO of Industrial Illusions with Chancellor Shepard.

"So, what did you think of him?" Shepard asked.

"He's quite the amusing duelist, I look forward to seeing what else he can accomplish with those cards." Pegasus said with a grin. "I wasn't lying when I said they were special, quite special, far more than even I let on to him."

"Why's that, what makes them so special?"

Pegasus smirked as he opened his suitcase and pulled out a scroll of parchment. He then handed it over to the Chancellor and said, "Tell me Shepard, can you read even a single letter on that paper?"

"Hmmm, no, it's all gibberish, I can't make a word out of it."

"Try looking at the first symbol, try to memorize it, look as long as you want." Pegasus said, and after a while Shepard said he was done, "Now I'll take it back, and then offer it back to you, try to read that first letter again, does it look familiar?"

"Hmm-wh what's this, it's completely different!"

"Exactly… you see Shepard, that contract was written with a magic so powerful, that anyone trying to read it would find themselves unable to so much as read the first letter no matter how many times they try. You could stare at it for hours on end and you'll never decipher it, upon you even so much as blinking the writing changes, making cracking it's secrets impossible!"

"So, what is it, why go through such lengths, what is written on that scroll?" Shepard asked handing it back to him.

"It's a contract, simple as that, but it's a special contract, so binding that even me trying to tell you about its contents is near impossible." Pegasus said. "The contract binds me from divulging the details of the words written on the scroll, but what I can tell you is this, under no circumstances am I allowed to license the creation of additional copies of those Dragonmaid cards. Those are the only official ones allowed in the entire world. That is because the spirits of those cards inhabit them."

"Spirits?"

"Yes… spirits, duel spirits, as real as you and me. Invisible to all but those they grant permission to see them, or those who are able to see them to begin with." Pegasus said. "They came to me one day, many years ago when I was creating the game, and asked me to create the cards for them to inhabit. How could I refuse, they were beautiful, and the works of art I designed were fabulous, but before I could create the cards in physical form, a contract was made and now only 'those' cards are allowed to exist. I am also the only soul on the entire planet allowed to make 'any' alterations or handle them physically when it comes to altering the cards. Not another soul is to even 'touch' them, or else bad things will happen to anyone who dares to try."

"I see… so then why is nobody else allowed to have them besides Joseph?"

"It's not that nobody else is allowed to have them besides him, its just that he's the only one so far to have gathered them all to him. The funny thing about the cards when I released them into the world, a single card was made to bind them all together, keep them together, to keep them all 'safe' and help guide them toward whoever they chose to act as their protector 'and' chosen master." Pegasus said as he stared out the window.

In his mind he pictured that card, the one card all by itself, with the silhouette of a dragon behind it.

"The House Dragonmaid card acts as the gate keeper and the key keeper; she appears before a duelist whom 'she' feels is worthy of them and then proceeds to test them. The test is simple, to see how they will react upon finding her, but what exactly determines if they pass, or fail is a mystery. If they pass her test, then she remains with them and offers them a contract, then slowly the other cards will make themselves known to that master, how fast or slow depends on the duelist and whether or not they like them. If they feel incompatible then they will not appear, or if they worry that they won't be protected or fear they'll be misused then they'll begin to vanish. But that one card will keep them bound to their master until 'she' leaves them."

In his mind the card vanished, replaced by another, one he hasn't created yet, and who's image he could not 'picture'.

"If they find themselves with a master who has managed to gather all of the Dragonmaids to them, then the final test will be put to them, and she will give them one last challenge to prove if they are worthy of her true power. Right now, the deck is incomplete, the House Dragonmaid is not at her full potential, despite her power she can go even further, but she won't relinquish that power to any master who cannot prove worthy of her power. That is how she keeps the others safe, at any moment, even if a duelist should have all of the cards in their hands, the House Dragonmaid can leave their side in an instant, and bring with her the others. But, if she deems any duelist worthy of being named her 'true' master, she will yield her full power to them, and to them all of the Dragonmaids will stay until the end of their days."

With that he opened his eye and looked at Shepard.

"It's my hope he continues to master then, continues to use them… because I want to make that final card… I want to see the deck completed!"

"I hope so myself, with how much hype this card has I'm excited to see how far Joseph will go with his Dragonmaids." Shepard said.

"As do I." He replied as he watched as Joseph and his 'maid' headed off toward the Slifer Dorms in the distance from the window.

Over at the café Joseph and his friends were talking about the new changes, new rulings, and other things related to their cards, Around the room students from all the dorms were either celebrating their cards escaping the nerf darts or whining and moaning about the loss of power their decks might have suffered because of the rules and changes. His friends had a few laughs at his expense because of Kitchen, Tidying and Send Off being nerfed.

"So much for your emergency escape plan for your maids Joseph, no more surprise invincible Dragonmaid from the grave or sudden shield during the opponent's attack when your field's empty." Alexis laughed.

"Koalas are safe another year, I love my Koala monsters!" Chumley said as he ate his grilled cheese.

"Can you win with them is the question." Syrus asked.

"Hey, I can win… in my sleep."

"I guess I'll have to say goodbye to free dragonmaid via Kitchen's effect." Joseph sighed as he knew that was the biggest nerf his cards received.

He'd counted on Kitchen to safe him from so many tight situations, able to bring a maid to his hand for free, he'd even started using her in his combo tests to bring Chamber to the hand.

"Poor Joseph, even his special cards aren't safe from the Nerf Darts." Bastion laughed.

Sheou walked over with a pair of trays, both baring food and drink for their table, and moments later Kite showed up with a plate of cake, a special recipe of hers that he recalled was known as 'Strawberry my Sorrows Cake'.

"Enjoy my Strawberry my Sorrows Cake, for the nerf darts that affected everyone's cards, some more than 'others'." Kite said with a smile, but there was a slight hint of frustration in it as she walked away.

"Forgive Kite masters and mistress, one of the ovens needs fixing so she's having to work extra hard tonight." Sheou said with a humble smile.

"It's no biggie, it happens, I remember that one time where the fridge broke down and Kite was screaming up and down about how she was going to keep food preserved." Joseph said. "Well, at least tomorrow I can prepare my deck for the school duel with Zane. Imagine, training under the top student at Duel Academy!"

"Yea…" Syrus muttered.

"Hey. Syrus what's up?"

"It's nothing." He replied as he solemnly poked his food.

"Doesn't sound like nothing man, come on what's on your mind." Joseph asked as he ate his food.

"Seriously its nothing… just forget about it."

"Oh no, now I 'can't' forget about it, not with you mentioning it in that defeated attitude, spill it Syrus, what's up? I aint ganna stop pestering you till you talk about it."

"You better do it; Joseph never stops when he sets his mind to something!" Luna said as she waltzed past, carrying drinks.

"Hey that's usually a good thing!" He called back to her. "So Syrus, tell us…"

Syrus sighed as he looked over his food, ate a few more bites but otherwise ignored the question, but Joseph was patient. Time went on while they ate their food, drank some drinks and otherwise enjoyed the nice atmosphere of the café. Finally, after a while Syrus sighed and relented.

"It's because I'm not good enough to duel like Zane, Joseph."

"Not good enough? Syrus you're a good duelist, you've given my maids a run for their money a few times."

"Maybe, but I'll never be good enough by his standards… I can't even play a single card properly." Syrus said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a magic card, showing it to him.

The card in question was a card called 'Power Pond', according to its description, the machine monster fused with Power Bond would have its attack points doubled, but at the end of the turn the user would take damage equal to the monster's original attack points.

"That is a great card, with this, any of your machines would easily take down almost any monster opposite you." Joseph said. "So why does this relate to you not being a good enough duelist by your brother's standards?"

"It's because of what happened a few years back, during grade school… I was standing up to the bully that had been picking on me and mocking me, I'd had enough of it, so I decided to stand up to him. I was about to play the card… but then Zane stopped the duel just as I was about to play it. At the time… I thought I was going to win using the card he gave me, Power Bond. But then Zane stopped the duel, told the bully to just take a card from him and walk away… that's when he told me that I misused the card he gave me, misplayed."

Syrus looked out the window with a sad expression.

"He said, I didn't take into account using Power Bond's negative effect, I didn't think about my opponent's face down. Then he went into this whole speech about knowing how to Use a card and knowing how to Play it." He sighed and finished eating. "So that's why I don't use it, why I don't feel worthy of it… or feel like I really am a duelist, because of one card. And Zane's right too, how many duels have I lost because I made a mistake, didn't think about my actions, ignored something on my opponent's field…"

Syrus finished his drink before getting up and telling everyone he was turning in for the night early.

After he left the mood got sour and not as cheerful as before really quick.

"Poor guy." Alexis said. "Syrus has a serious confidence problem.

"Yea, imagine having your older brother tell you that, that would bum anyone out." Chumley said.

"Hmmm." Joseph agreed.

As the night wound down and everyone returned to their dorms, Joseph and Chumley saw Syrus was already asleep, or if he wasn't asleep, he was not responding to them. So instead of trying to bother him, they left him alone and turned in for the night. Sheou did her usual routine, bade him good night, before leaving. When all lights were out and he was sleep, his Dragonmaid friends appeared one by one, snuggling in with cheery smiles and happily settling in for the night.

The morning after, Joseph took his deck, his Duel Disk, and with Sheou beside him headed over to the Obelisk Blue dorm. There he was welcomed by Zane inviting him in and then guiding him to his room.

The Obelisk Blue Dorms on the outside were spectacular to Joseph, but the inside was… well there was no other word for it, amazing. He could see the privileges and luxuries afforded to Obelisk Blue students were worth all of their grades and efforts to rise to the rank. They passed by the dining hall with its fancy pillars and wonderful buffet ladened tables with a roaring fireplace at the end. There was a swimming pool that glittered and gleamed, a recreation room filled with luxury couches and chairs, a study hall filled with bookcases stuffed with textbooks and other reading materials, everywhere they went the floors had carpet lining the floor, paintings adorned the walls, windows in the shape of arches along the corridors…

"Quite the place this is, isn't it Joseph?" Sheou whispered warmly as she looked around.

"I can see why people want to be in Obelisk Blue…" He sighed quietly.

Compared to his lodgings in Slifer Red, every student here felt like they were loaded, he was dreading when Zane showed him his room.

After climbing 'two' floors, his worries were met, Zane's bedroom was almost the size of Bastion's room but with far more space. He had his own couch, a study area, giant screen tv, personal computer with dual screens, a queen's sized bed, walk in closet…

He stopped looking around, just doing that was making him regret his decision to join the Ra ranks every second.

"Alright Joseph, let's get started." Zane said as he led him over to his desk. "Would you like anything to eat or drink while you're here, since you'll be staying here with me all day, you can have anything you want from the kitchen, room service is open twenty-four-seven."

"Uhm… maybe some tea and… that's it for now? We had breakfast over at the Slifer Dorms after all." He said.

"I will go and get it for you immediately Young Master. I know where the kitchens are Master Zane, if you request anything I'll make it for you as well." Sheou said with a humble bow and left to do as she said.

"A tea for me as well ma'am." Zane said quickly just before she left.

She nodded as she closed the door to indicate she got the message.

"Alright Joseph, let's first look at your deck, separate all of your cards into monsters, magic and trap piles."

He nodded and did just that, separating his maids, his magic cards, and finally setting aside his traps into three different piles.

"As you can see Joseph, your deck needs a lot of work."

"Wait, how come that is?"

"Just look at the ratio of cards in your deck. I assume you have a complete set of '40' cards in your entire deck, correct?" Zane asked, to which he nodded. "And yet you haven't properly balanced your cards, take a look at your monsters, out of your entire deck, the number of monsters you have for any duel, no matter what, is only going to be 9, not counting the House Dragonmaid. Five dragonmaids, and four dragons, in a deck of forty cards."

He then took all of the magic and trap cards and pooled them together.

"Meanwhile, the rest of your deck is magic and trap cards, a total of thirty-one cards. Narrow that even further, and out of the forty cards in your deck, you only have 'five' in the entire collection that are capable of being normal summoned. Combined, the odds of you getting the necessary monsters to avoid being wide open to attack on your first turn are extremely slim. I assume you've had duels where that has happened correct?"

"Uh… yea…" He muttered as his dragonmaids appeared around him.

'Hey, we show up often enough!' Tinkech yelled at Zane.

'We're all master needs!' Lorpar snarled.

'But… it wouldn't hurt to have help…' Ernus said.

'I love master but… we can't always be there in his first hand.' Nudyarl whispered.

"Given your deck has alternate methods to bring out the maids, you can draw them with graceful charity, send them to the grave, revive them, special summon them, but if your first hand isn't ideal, you're a sitting duck for whatever your opponent summons out, potentially leading you to an FTK if they're able to bridge the 4000 life point limit." Zane said as he opened his draw and pulled out a trio of cards. "Proper deck building is the most important skill a duelist can learn, and while you've gotten the basics down, you need to add a few more monsters to your deck to help you out with your overall strategy."

He pooled his cards all together, and then took out a second deck. Then he shuffled both, and finally simulated him and Joseph drawing their opening hands.

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, Return of the Dragon Lords, Dragonmaid Welcome, Numinous Healer, Spring of Rebirth]

[Power Bond, Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Vier, Negate Attack, Cyber Phoenix]

"As you can see, if you were going first, your only hope to be able to withstand a powerful attack from me, would be to draw a maid." Zane said as he drew the next card, which was [Dragonmaid Tidying], "And you'd lose."

Zane drew his first card which was [Proto Cyber Dragon]

"There are decks out there that can get away with having few monsters in the deck, but they all have ways to bring out those monsters even if they aren't in the opening hand, so the effect of not drawing one isn't as heavy a loss. Remember your duel with Bastion?"

Joseph nodded, remembering how Bastion tore his maids out of the grave and took his last one straight from his hand, before wiping the floor with the Dragons. If not for Chamber, he would have lost.

"If you don't have your maids, your deck can't fight, you 'need' your maids to duel, so here are a few cards I'm going to give you to improve your deck." Zane said, showing him the three cards at long last.

[Masked Dragon]

"Masked Dragon?" He asked, looking at the card with his dragons.

'Talk about an ugly face.' Nudyarl muttered.

'Keep him away from my card!' Lorpar said.

'I've seen ugly, but not that ugly.' Tinkech exclaimed.

'Not even a mother would love 'that' face…' Ernus whispered.

"Yes, Masked Dragon, what this card does is when it's destroyed by battle, it allows you to special summon a dragon type monster with less than 1500 attack points to the field. And since this monster has only 1400, you can use it to summon another masked dragon if you need another defender. Or… you can special summon one of your maids, and have her effects activate whatever they are."

"I see…"

"Plus, with three copies your odds of getting 'one' of them in your hand is higher than with your 'one' copy of each maid. While getting a maid in your hand is good, only 'two' of them have the effects that are ideal to bring out a dragon to go into, while the third is relying on luck to do that. But these three Masked Dragons will allow you to pick which maid you want depending on the situation."

After that he and Zane went over his deck again and started looking over the cards he could use and could change out. Sheou walked in and brought their drinks, and then just stood by silently while they did their thing. After an hour of going over his cards, looking at what effects did what, and examining what his deck needed and didn't need, his deck was now again, forty cards, but with three masked dragons included. He had one solitary copy of Dragonmaid Changeover, since he only had one fusion card to call upon with it. He kept his three tidying cards due to how versatile they were. Two copies of Welcome were kept, and his three numinous healers to act as buffer for his life points. He also decided to keep the Wall of Revealing Light and Spring of Rebirth Alexis gave him. He kept two copies of Downtime, a copy of Mirror Force, Negate Attack, his Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity and United we Stand. The cards he received from Dorothy, Dragoncarnation, Tyrant Wing, two copies of Return of the Dragon Lords, Dragon's Rage, and Dragon Shrine. Three copies of Send Off were added to the pool also, and to make up the final two spaces, Mystical Space Typhoon and Monster Reborn were included.

"There, now let's keep my hand from the previous draw, but let's see how your deck draws an opening hand now." Zane said after they finished going over his deck.

He shuffled the deck and then did an opening draw, the cards that came up were [Dragonmaid Welcome, Tyrant Wing, Masked Dragon, Dragon Shrine, United we Stand] and when he drew another card to simulate a first turn draw, [Parlor Dragonmaid] was the first card.

"Now you can rely on your monsters more often to appear, and if you need a particular maid, you can use masked dragon to bring them out no matter where they are or how deep in the deck they are." Zane said. "I also gave you a spare copy of Mystical Space Typhoon since your deck lacks the ability to attack backrow or field spells, this will help you out with troublesome cards."

"Thanks a lot."

"Alright, now let's work on your combos and chains, because that's another area you struggle with." Zane said.

"Eh… wha?"

And so, Joseph spent the day with Zane learning how to combo his monsters, spells, traps, effects and everything else related to his deck so that he could get to the moves he wanted to make. They also played out practice scenarios against cards he was familiar with, such as a deck featuring Chazz's Union Monsters, a few of Bastion's Chemical monsters, and even some warrior-based decks. They kept going so long that Sheou had to bring them lunch, and even 'dinner' before they finally had to stop.

"It would be a bother for you to just go back to your dorm and then have to come back here first thing in the morning, so how about you crash here in our dorms for the night?" Zane suggested.

"Sure but… where?"

'Yay we get to sleep over in the Obelisk Dorm!' Tinkech cheered.

'Sweet digs for us!' Nudyarl squealed.

'All that extra leg and tail room!' Ernus sighed.

'I can't wait to check out the bed…' Lorpar said happily.

"I believe I have a room that you can borrow young master, Amber said that there were a few empty rooms here at Obelisk Blue, we will simply use one for you." Sheou said with a smile. "I believe she is still here for tonight; I'll go and seek her out."

Sheou was about to turn around and open the door when said door knocked, and she opened it to welcome in Amber the Chambermaid of the Maid of Dragon's Café. She was looking very surprised to see Sheou on the opposite side of the door, but she peppered up upon seeing Joseph there as well.

"Ara Ara, Joseph, surprising to see you here, did you get promoted to Obelisk Blue recently?" She said with a smirk. "I wouldn't mind seeing you more often around here, this is traditionally where I work, besides the Obelisk Blue 'Girl's' dorm that is."

"Amber, Joseph is here to study with young Zane for his upcoming school duel, he will also be staying overnight. Do you know of a room that Joseph can sleep in for now?" Sheou interjected before he could respond.

Amber turned and bowed humbly while crossing her arms before her and declared 'yes', she did know of a room.

"He can stay in room 309 ma'am, that room is vacant and also carries a few night robes he can wear while sleeping." She said warmly.

"Alright Joseph, see you in the morning, get some sleep, because we have a lot to cover tomorrow too." Zane said as Joseph got up, stretched, and wished him good night.

He walked out of Zane's room with Sheou and Amber, who soon left them to tend to other rooms while the two of them continued upstairs. After figuring out where they were, and how to reach it, they arrived at room 309. There Sheou opened the door and bowed him in. He located the night robes in the closet alongside some pajamas for himself, allowing him to change in the rather 'splendid' bathroom while Sheou readied his bed.

Changed in the pajamas that were, just a 'little' too big for him, he handed Sheou his clothes so they could be cleaned and got into bed.

"Your uniform will be ready tomorrow, along with a tray of breakfast young Joseph." She told him.

"Hey uh… Sheou, I know I'm not there but, do you think maybe Kite or one of the other girls could give breakfast to Chumley and Syrus? I know I won't be there for tomorrow morning but still…"

Sheou looked at him for a moment before smiling and nodding while he climbed into bed, "As you request Young Master, I'll see to it that Amber wakes them up and delivers breakfast to your friends at Slifer Red."

"Thanks."

After he got settled in and Sheou closed the blinds, she waited until he was fully asleep, before smiling lovingly at him, walked over to where he slept, leaned down and gently kissed his forehead goodnight. After that she wished him pleasant dreams, before quietly leaving the room, locking it behind her.

Right after she left, four feminine dragons, each of blue, red, green and pink, all settled into their preferred spot and curling up with their master, enjoying the spacious accommodations they were given being here.

The next morning a maid who 'also' worked at the Obelisk Blue male dorms was going about her routines, dusting and sweeping, and was walking down the hall when she saw room 309 was locked. Confused she assumed maybe a student was in there or left it locked by accident, so she pulled out a set of keys and was about to go in and see if anything needed cleaning or if the bed needed setting.

"I will handle that." A voice suddenly told her, startling her as she turned around to see a maid in a similar European uniform, but it was 'not' academy issued nor did it bear the emblem of Obelisk Blue.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is there a student in there?" She asked politely, noticing a rolling cart behind her with a tray of breakfast on top and a set of clothes on bottom.

"Yes, but as I stated, I will take care of this room." The woman repeated.

"I understand, but this is my floor to work on, I'll only be in there for a moment to set the be-" She tried to say more but the maid standing before her suddenly had this 'aura' flare around her.

She swore a shiver ran down her spine as her face, while still humble and friendly, gained this almost 'yandere' look upon it, like those she saw in manga. Behind the woman a draconic visage and menacing aura began to slowly appear, turning everything else around her to shadow.

"My master is in that room; I am the only woman allowed to enter his room at this time!" She whispered. "As a maid, it is my duty to be prompt at waking him up for breakfast on time and to ready him for the day's activities. I trust this task with no other… please move along ma'am."

"Uuuuuuh s-sure… yes… okay~! Ha-v-v-ve a g-g-good day…"

Almost instantly the look and aura vanished as she warmly replied, "Thank you, you as well!" Before turning around and pushing her cart up to the door, opening it up, and walking inside.

The maid shuddered as she slowly turned and creeped away from the room.

Sheou delivered Joseph's clothes and left to allow him to change, after he did and he sat down eating breakfast, she went about her usual routine of setting the bed, combing his hair, checking his duel disk and making sure it was clean and charged, before taking the leftover dishes with the cart to have it taken and cleaned. Then he walked back down to Zane's room and knocked to make sure he was up.

Inside Zane welcomed him back and they went about practicing his deck's plays and combos again. Joseph complained and questioned how he was going to remember all of this stuff for the school duel, but Zane said that eventually he'll be able to play his deck as if it were second nature.

"After that it's all about reading what your opponent does, analyzing the field and then implementing your own strategies in response. That is generally how Dueling is and always has been." Zane said. "Now another thing you need to work on Joseph, is 'thinking' about your moves, and I mean 'all' of your moves. I've noticed you tend to rush through your moves and settle on a singular path when you could make better moves."

"Really?"

"Yes, in your last duel with Bastion, you actually could have won when you had only Ernus and House Dragonmaid on the field, you could have used Tinkech's effect to power House, used Tidying to bring her back to further boost your attack power, and then attacked with both monsters. Instead of using Dark Hole, a card your opponent gave you, and who until then had been prepared to deal with everything you'd had until then. Now it's easy to say that in hindsight, but still, that was something you 'could' have done."

"Yea… I guess I forgot about House's effects again."

"Yes, your House Dragonmaid could keep bringing your dragonmaids to the field, even if you lost the maid, Bastion gave you Dark Hole 'hoping' you'd activate it, because he had the perfect counter to it prepared. If your opponent ever gives you a card, always expect them to have an answer to it, especially if it's a powerful card like Dark Hole."

He nodded as he thought about that, before thinking about something else and looking to Zane. "Hey Zane… I know this is sudden but… why are you so harsh to your little brother?"

"What's this all of a sudden?" Zane asked calmly, but he still had a stern look on his face.

"I mean… I know it's not my place to judge, he's your brother so I have no right to say anything but… it's got something to do about a Power Bond card you gave him when you were kids. He played it wrong and you just… well you kind of crushed his spirit." He said. "I know this is a family thing but… he's my friend and, even if he doesn't say it, he still looks up to you as a big brother."

He glanced out of the window to avoid eye contact; he knew this wasn't what he came here to do but he had to get it out of his system.

"I know if I had a big brother like you, top student, everyone looks up to you, top grades, biggest respect out of the entire school… I'd feel insecure as well cause they're going to compare me to you. And then I'm told I'm not good enough, by my big brother, I know it would eat at me every single day. Syrus does look up to you Zane, and… maybe this is just me hoping you'll listen but, I see Syrus and I see him wanting to improve but, well…"

"You think I'm holding him back?"

"A little, like I said he's my friend and I don't like seeing him depressed about something that happened to me in grade school." He declared as he looked at Zane. "Like I said… it's not my business but, Syrus is my friend, he's your little brother… I'm sure he would get better, heck maybe his confidence will shoot up through the room… if you were to help him out even a little."

Zane was quiet as he glanced out the room.

"May I ask why you're so interested in my brother?"

"Like I said he's my friend… but also… 'you' have a brother, you have family here. I don't…" He whispered while glancing at Sheou. "I don't have family, no brother, sister, mother… the closest I have is Sheou."

Sheou smiled warmly at him before humbly bowing toward him, neither acknowledging his statement nor asking if he needed something of her, just saying without speaking that she was there should he need anything of her.

"If I had a little brother, I would do everything I could to help him out, help him get better as a duelist."

"Hrmmm…" Zane whispered as he looked out the window again. "Well, Syrus 'does' have a lot to learn still, some things I can't teach him no matter how I try."

"Yea, but that still leaves all the things you 'can' teach him. Like what you're doing with me."

Zane smiled a little as he nodded in agreement. "For now, let's get back to what we're supposed to be doing, not just chatting it up. Now let's talk about how you can use Masked Dragon to summon out a maid during your own turn if you can spare the life points, depending on the monster the opponent has…"

And so, they continued like that for the rest of the day, with Joseph trying to grasp how his new deck could work and just looking over his combos and what moves he had access to now.

As the day went on and dinner time came, they decided to take a break and head over to the Café with all of the other students. At the café he saw that Syrus wasn't there yet, so when Zane went to go pay for his entry into the café as well as his meal he ordered, he asked Alexis and Chumley for a small favor. After a while Syrus finally entered, and when he sat down next to Zane because Chumley, Alexis and Joseph were occupying the other side of the table they began chatting about something random until he gave the signal.

"Hey guys, I think I see a new cake at the buffet table, I'm going to go get a slice."

"Licious a new cake, aww yea I can already taste it in my mouth, ima get me one too!"

"Ya me too, hey Syrus hold our seats, we'll be right back!" Alexis called out. "We'll bring you a slice too."

"W-waaaaait!" Syrus moaned as they all rushed over to the buffet table. "Man…"

After an awkward silence in which he and his brother simply sat at the table while everyone else around the café talked, laughed, ate and gossiped, his older brother coughed and then said, "You know Syrus… there's something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it Zane?"

Zane took a sip of his drink before glancing at him, "Would you be interested in a little tutoring from me?"

"Wait, really? Hoooold on… did Joseph put you up to this?"

"Not specifically, but… he did remind me of something." He replied. "He just told me that you 'are' my younger brother, and you are in fact my only brother here at Duel Academy. I'm sure mom would like to hear her two sons are getting along and one of them is teaching the other how to duel here."

"But… what about me not being good enough… you know… when I played Power Bond wrong and when you said I wasn't good enough?"

"Syrus, you were in grade school, that was years ago, I think you've learned a thing or two since then." Zane said. "Besides, when was the last time we did something together, just the two of us? Even if it is related to dueling?"

"Uhm, not for a long time…"

"Thought as much, so how about this, I still have tomorrow off thanks to Crowler, how about you join me at Obelisk Blue instead of slumming it with the Slifers for a day?"

"But what about Joseph, what about his big duel that's coming up?"

"At this point all Joseph needs is 'practice' with his deck, practice he can get by simply dueling other people." Zane said with a smile. "Joseph knows that studying and cramming without actually dueling will only get him so far, he needs to duel to improve. Tomorrow night I'll duel him to see if he's actually learned anything in the two days that he's been with me. That leaves the rest of the day to hang out with, and I think we can finally put that Power Bond back in your deck and help you to learn how to play it properly finally."

"Yea… you said something about that… the difference between knowing how to use a card and knowing how to play it." Syrus muttered as he remembered those words.

"And if I recall, mom said something about how 'you' apparently got the good looks between the two of us."

"Well, she 'did' say I got the looks!" Syrus joked.

"We'll see about that in a few years."

Minutes later Joseph, Alexis and Chumley returned with plates of the new cake in question, and they then chatted and hung out with one another. When Zane asked if Joseph would be alright practicing by himself tomorrow, he said sure, and after that Zane said he had to leave to go back to Obelisk Blue's dorm.

Back in their room Syrus said he was going to go and actually hang out with his bro the next day, and Joseph said that was really cool. The next day Joseph and Chumley hung out, looking over his deck and having some practice plays. During the day it was mostly quiet, occasionally his dragon friends would smack talk each other when they were sacrificed or discarded, or their more favorite activity of betting who would be first summoned by him.

Laundry was actually summoned half the time over the other four.

When it was close to sundown Syrus returned with his bro and said it was time to have a real duel to see if he'd actually learned anything during their time together. Sheou excused herself and said she would have to go to the café to oversee a few things, but wished them good luck in their duel.

Down by the water's edge where he dueled Blair he stared off against Zane with his Duel Disk and deck, while across from him Zane wore his academy issued Duel Disk. Alexis joined them as well, alongside her two friends.

"Are we late for the action?" Alexis asked.

"Nope, they're just about to start." Syrus replied.

"Are you ready Joseph?" Zane asked him.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Joseph replied, 'Ready as I'll ever be, yea right… I've never seen Zane's cards in an actual duel, I didn't get to read his card's effects either when he did show me them. Meanwhile he's seen all of my cards, saw their effects, knows how I play… why do I have to be behind the 8 ball all the time?'

"Then let's get started!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

Both duel disks activated, decks shuffled, opening hands drawn, and life points finally set.

[Joseph Takara - 4000 / Zane Truesdale – 4000]

Both duelists looked at their cards.

(Joseph) [Parlor Dragonmaid, United We Stand, Tyrant Wing, Wall of Revealing Light, Dragonmaid Send Off]

(Zane) [Cyber Dragon, Evolution Burst, Polymerization, Cyber Dragon Vier, Monster Reborn]

"Alright, I'll take the first turn!" Joseph declared as he drew his first card, [Masked Dragon], "I play one card face down, and then I summon Parlor Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

A card appeared on the field face down, then Parlor Dragonmaid's card appeared and Parlor herself appeared with a smirk.

'Does this mean I'm your favorite now master?' She giggled.

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

"Save the small talk for later girl, now activate your effect and send Dragonmaid Lorpar to the grave for me."

She nodded and turned to blast his duel disk with a single burst of her draconic energy, allowing him to send Lorpar to the grave.

"Well, that's it for my turn, you're move Zane!"

"Thank you…" Zane said as he calmly drew his first card, [Different Dimension Capsule] "And I think I'll summon out my Cyber Dragon in attack mode!"

On the field a metallic serpentine-like monster appeared, covered in overlapping layers of metallic plates from head to tail. It roared and glared at his Parlor Dragonmaid with a powerful voice and through its piercing yellow eyes.

[Cyber Dragon, lvl 5, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 2100 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Wait… how can you summon a level five monster on your first turn, without a sacrifice no less?"

"I can special summon it because of you Joseph, if you have monsters and I don't, Cyber Dragon needs no sacrifice to be summoned. And because I've summoned out a Cyber Dragon, I'll also special summon out Cyber Dragon Vier in defense mode."

His next monster appeared on the field, it was similar to the Cyber dragon but it had a more pinkish/purple hue to it's armor, yet it still had a similar overlapping plate armor, but each section was connected by a purple joint. It snarled at him with a mechanical roar and stayed curled up in a defensive position.

[Cyber Dragon Vier, lvl 4, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 1100 Atk / 1600 Def]

"In case you're wondering, I can automatically summon out Cyber Dragon Vier due to its special ability, if ever a Cyber Dragon is summoned to my field, Cyber Dragon Vier can be special summoned automatically into face up defense mode. Next, as long as Cyber Dragon Vier is in play, whether on the field or in the grave, its name becomes 'Cyber Dragon'." Zane explained. "Finally, as another effect, as long as Cyber Dragon Vier is on the field, all monsters on my field named Cyber Dragon gain 500 attack and defense points!"

[Cyber Dragon 2100 Atk / 1600 Def – 2600 Atk / 2100 Def]

['Cyber Dragon' Vier 1100 Atk / 1600 Def – 1600 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Next, I'll activate my spell card, Evolution Burst!" Zane said, and on the field a magic card with the image of Cyber Dragon using an attack appeared.

[Did you miss me these last few chapters, hope so, anyway on with the card explanation. When the magic card, Evolution Burst, is activated while Cyber Dragon is on the field, you can target one of your opponent's cards, be they face up or down, Monster or Spell/Trap, and destroy that card. But all 'Cyber Dragons' on your field, cannot attack for the rest of the turn.]

"Now then, I think I'll destroy your Parlor Dragonmaid with my spell card, GO, Cyber Dragon, Evolution Burst!"

Cyber Dragon roared and unleashed a torrent of energy from its mouth upon Parlor Dragonmaid, but since it wasn't the battle step, nor did they enter it, he could not save his Dragonmaid from destruction. She screamed in pain before being destroyed.

"Grrr, my parlor Dragonmaid!"

"Yes, sorry Joseph but Lorpar is going to have to wait until another turn to grace us with her presence." Zane said. "But there is a positive side to me using this card's effect, my Cyber Dragons cannot attack on the turn its activated. Though let me phrase that differently, only 'Cyber Dragon' cannot attack this turn. I activate the magic card Polymerization!"

He played his fourth card, a polymerization card.

"Dragons unite, become Cyber Twin Dragon!" Zane declared, and from the swirling vortex as both dragons merged together, a new twin headed mechanical dragon with two heads appeared.

[Cyber Twin Dragon, Lvl 8, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 2800 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Thiiiiis isn't good."

"You're right, because since Cyber Twin Dragon isn't necessarily a 'Cyber Dragon', it can attack despite me using Evolution Burst this turn. And when Cyber Twin attacks, it can attack 'twice' in one turn. Cyber Twin Dragon, attack Joseph with Double Strident Blast!"

"It's over, Joseph can't withstand both attacks!" Mindy shouted.

"His life points won't survive this round!" Jasmine agreed.

Alexis however watched as the card face down flipped up, just as the two attacks connected. As the dust began to settle, Joseph was still standing. Only now, a mystical wall of light was now shielding him, protecting him, and it slowly made its way to the middle of the field. The face up trap that was now active was none other than Wall of Revealing Light.

"That was too close…" Joseph complained as he let out the breath of air he'd been holding.

[Joseph Takara - 1000 / Zane Truesdale – 4000]

"Hrmmm." Zane responded, his expression still unchanging as he observed how the turn play out.

"I don't get it, what just happened, that should have been the end of it." Syrus asked.

"It's Wall of Revealing Light, it shielded him from Zane's attack!" Alexis said, smiling as she saw one of her cards she'd gifted him once again keeping Joseph in the duel.

"Wall of Revealing Light, what does that do?" Syrus asked.

"See that's why your still in Slifer, Wall of Revealing Light is a super nice card to use in case your opponent tries to wipe you out with a really strong monster." Jasmine said.

"What my friend said, what it does Syrus is when you pay life points times a thousand, you can stop monsters your opponent has from attacking unless they exceed that number." Alexis explained. "Since Joseph paid 3000 life points, he was able to block Cyber Twin Dragon's double attack, since even though combined it could deal 5600 points of damage, each individual attack only does 2800 points."

"So, he saved himself from a huge beat down by giving up some major points, licious move Jo!" Chumley cheered.

"Yea, but that move is a double-edged sword." Alexis whispered quietly. 'Cause now all Zane needs to do is just make his monster even 'one' point higher, and his card won't keep him safe. It isn't going to take Zane long to overcome that 3000-point requirement to attack, or get rid of the Wall of Revealing Light. He gave up 3/4ths of his entire starting life point to activate that card, just one hit and he's finished…'

"Nice move Joseph, now let me end off my turn, I play my next spell card, Different Dimension Capsule." Zane said, and a capsule appeared on the field from the earth. "This card allows me to take any card from my deck, and then remove it from play face down. Effectively I'm 'sealing' it in the capsule, but in two turns… I can add that card to my hand."

(Zane) [Power Bond]

An unknown card was placed in the capsule, and then said capsule sealed itself up before slowly sinking into the ground.

"What could it be?" Joseph muttered as Nudyarl appeared beside him.

'I don't know, but if he's willing to wait 2 turns to get it, it must be good!' Nudyarl muttered to him.

"Yea it must be, that's a huge risk, if he loses that card the card he'd draw would be gone forever."

"Well, that wraps it up Joseph, let's see what you got now."

"My turn then." Joseph says as he drew [Dragonmaid Downtime], "Alright, I play one monster face down, and two cards on the field in defense mode. That'll do for now." He said as he played Masked Dragon and Downtime face down.

"Not much you can do without a maid, my turn now." Zane said as he drew, [Pot of Greed], "I think I'll play Pot of Greed, which as we all know, but I'll explain anyway, lets me draw 2 cards."

'But where, where does he draw them from?' Nudyarl yelled out.

'From his deck, from our master's deck, from some other guy's deck?' Lorpar now screamed.

Joseph cracked a smile as he tried not to laugh at their antics.

Zane looked at the cards he drew. [Mystical Space Typhoon, Cyber Dragon], then he looked at the field, he already knew what the monster was, there was only one reason for Joseph to play a monster face down, it was the other card he was wondering about.

"I play Mystical Space Typhoon, and now I'll destroy your Wall of Revealing Light, the only card keeping you safe from my Cyber Twin Dragon!"

On the field Wall of Revealing Light was engulfed in a typhoon, sending it spiraling and spinning into the air and removing the only protection Joseph had against the power of the Cyber Twin Dragon.

"Alright Joseph, here it comes, Cyber Twin Dragon attack, Double Strident BLAST!"

One of the Cyber Twin Dragon's heads unleashed its assault on his face down, blasting the card and blowing it up before the monster even had a chance to appear, but the card he'd destroyed was [Masked Dragon].

"Since you destroyed Masked Dragon in battle, and since it was sent to the graveyard, Masked Dragon's effect activates, now I can summon a dragon type monster with less than 1500 attack points. And I know who I want, another Masked Dragon!"

He pulled the card out and played it face up in defense mode, and the monster appeared before him.

'You could have picked any of us master, why did you have to bring out another one of that thing?' Nudyarl asked him.

"Nice one Joseph, but remember, Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice in one turn, so one more time Cyber Twin Dragon, attack him with double strident blast!"

The second head of the dragon attacked and blasted the defending Masked Dragon, with no effort at all.

"Once again, masked Dragon is destroyed, so another dragon with less than 1500 attack points is summoned in its place, and I choose Nurse Dragonmaid!"

On the field the pink nurse maid outfit wearing Dragonmaid of the Dragonmaids appeared in defense position, arms crossed and kneeling as she stood before her master.

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

'Need any help master?' She asked politely.

"Yea, now that you're here I need you to bring Parlor Dragonmaid to my field from my grave."

She nodded and turned to blast his duel disk with her draconic energy, allowing him to bring back the Parlor Maid.

'Ehhhh I guess that Masked Dragon isn't so bad is it?' Parlor asked quietly.

"Parlor, activate 'your' effect girl, send Tinkeck to the grave!" 'Alright, now I need to get some Dragonmaids.' He thought as he examined the field

Parlor nodded happily as she blasted his disk and Tinkech was extracted and sent to the grave.

"And now I activate, Dragonmaid Downtime!" Joseph declared as he activated his face down. "I choose one Dragonmaid on my field, and send it back to my hand, next I can gain one of 2 effects, and I choose the first, which lets me draw another Dragonmaid card from my deck to my hand! So, Parlor, come back to me girl!"

'Told you I'm his favorite~!' Parlor snickered as she nodded and jumped into the face up Downtime card.

'Don't forget I'm the one who brought you back Parlor…' Nurse muttered.

"And as for the card I pick, I choose, Dragonmaid Welcome!"

A card was drawn, and he added it to his hand.

"Nice moves Joseph, that was well played on your part." Zane shouted to him.

"Thanks… but you haven't seen anything yet!" He called back.

'I hope so Joseph, because I'm noticing some mistakes you still need to work out.' Zane thought to himself. "Alright, I play one card face down and end my turn, let's see what you got Joseph, because it's your turn now." He declared as he laid his last card face down, Monster Reborn.

Joseph nodded as he looked up and saw that he'd drawn [Dragon's Rage], "Hmmm, let me see, I summon back to the field, Parlor Dragonmaid!"

Parlor appeared on the field in attack mode with a grin.

'Admit it Nurse, Master seems to like bringing me out tonight!' She giggled at her fellow Dragonmaid.

'Just cause my ability can only bring you back doesn't mean he doesn't like me any less!' Nurse backtalked to her friend.

"Focus girls, Parlor activate 'your' effect now, and send Changeover to the grave!"

She nodded and happily blasted his deck to send the requested card to the grave.

'Alright, now I need to get some Dragonmaids.' He thought as he examined the field. 'I could use welcome to bring a dragonmaid back to my hand, then send Changeover to my hand by sending Parlor or Nurse to my hand. Then I'd summon House and have 2 maids… but that face down worries me. Zane 'knows' what I can do, he's like Bastion but with 'more' info. He'd expect me to do that… so that face down is probably a trap designed… wait a minute! I can get my cake and eat it too, well to an extent, I can remove it from the field 'and' summon out House without having to fear his face down! There's a third option!'

"Now I activate the magic card, Dragonmaid Welcome, this lets me bring a Dragonmaid card from my grave to the hand. And I choose to bring back Lorpar." He declared. "Girls, do your stuff!"

Both maids nodded to one another and turned around, blasted his duel disk with a combined burst of their draconic energy, and the card was easily pulled out.

"Next, I activate Changeover's effect, I send Parlor to the hand, and it comes back to my hand!"

Both Nurse and Parlor nodded in unison, and Parlor returned to the hand, vanishing from the field with Changeover.

"Now I activate my Changeover card and fusion summon a Dragonmaid monster from my extra deck, by combining Parlor Dragonmaid and Dragonmaid Lorpar in my hand, to bring out the one and only… House Dragonmaid! Come forth, House Dragonmaid!"

Next to Nurse who humbly bowed at her entrance, a swirling pillar of black, crimson and white draconic flame erupted and spun around, with the visage of a mighty dragon roaring to the world around it, before a pair of arms flung out and dissipated the flames. With a humble expression and warm smile as she stood before Joseph.

"Now I activate my 'second' Dragonmaid card, Downtime's second effect, by sending 1 Dragonmaid from the field I can return a spell or trap on your side of the field to the hand, so I bring Nurse back, and send whatever your face down card is!"

House looked over at Nurse and nodded silently, who nodded in agreement, spread her wings and flew up before flying into the card, vanishing as her card returned to the hand. Downtime glowed and then blasted Zane's face down card, causing it to vanish.

Zane 'smiled'. 'Now you're learning Joseph… that was well played.' He thought as he picked up the card. 'Given it wasn't a trap, but if it had been, that would have been the optimal move for you in this setting, because now your maid's ability activates.'

"Now because a dragon returned to my hand, I can activate House's special ability, for every dragon that returned, I can destroy a monster on your field, so say goodbye to the Cyber Twin Dragon!"

House nodded as she sent a blast of pastel pink energy at Cyber Twin Dragon, who writhed in agony as it was destroyed.

"Now that you have no monster, and no face down, you're wide open to attack, so go, House Dragonmaid, Draconic Maid Flame!"

House nodded as she spread her wings, gathered a ball of draconic flame in the palms of her hands, before launching it at Zane who unflinchingly took the hit, his life points dropped drastically because of that one hit.

[Joseph Takara - 1000 / Zane Truesdale – 1000]

"Way to go Jo!" Chumley cheered.

"Good move Joseph!" Alexis yelled.

"One more hit and you'll win!" Syrus yelled.

Joseph however ignored their cheers, as nice as it was, he knew Zane wasn't done, he couldn't finish him off, and it would be his turn. He stayed focus and looked at his options, like he was told to do. 'Alright Zane still has that card he was forced to take back, assuming it's a trap, he'll try to play it again. But… he still has that 'other' face up card, the capsule… and whatever it's going to bring back. Since I didn't get rid of it, whatever it is had to be worth it for Zane to risk losing the duel just to get at after 2 turns.'

He looked down at his hand, he couldn't bring out Nurse, and while United we Stand would be nice, but he didn't think it would be enough 'yet'. He'll save it for next turn, when he had '3' dragonmaids, then nothing would stop her. He glanced at his other card, Dragonmaid Send Off.

"I play one card face down and end my turn. Now hit me with your best shot Zane!"

"My best shot huh, you want it, it's yours Joseph!" Zane said as he drew his next card. [De Fusion]

Seconds after the time capsule emerged from the ground and began to crack open.

"It's been 2 turns since I activated my time capsule Joseph, so now I get the card that was placed inside added to my hand!"

The capsule broke open and the card was revealed, vanishing as Zane added 'it' now.

"You played well Joseph; you're definitely getting better."

"Hey, its thanks to you I probably improved as much as I did, but hit me with your best shot Zane, I'm ready for it!"

"Of course, you are, you're a duelist, and a good duelist is ready for anything, and that doesn't just mean knowing how to use their cards, but also how to play them!" Zane said. "And Joseph… you played your cards well."

'Yea, knowing how to use them, and knowing how to play them are different things… I learned that now thanks to you Zane. And Syrus, I hope you and Zane made up… your brothers a great duelist, I wish I had him for my brother.'

"First thing's first Joseph I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back the Cyber Twin Dragon your maid destroyed!"

He played the magic card and his Cyber Twin returned to the field, roaring and sparking as it did.

[Cyber Twin Dragon, Lvl 8, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 2800 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Next, I activate this De-Fusion, splitting my monster into the two component dragons that first formed it!"

The Twin Dragon glowed and split into the two Cyber Dragons that first formed it, returning Cyber Dragon and Cyber Dragon Vier to the field.

[Cyber Dragon, lvl 5, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 2100 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Cyber Dragon Vier, lvl 4, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 1100 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Next I activate the magic of POWER BOND!" He declared as he held up the card and finally played it.

"Whoa…" Joseph said, seeing the card that Syrus had been talking about finally being played.

"This is it…" Syrus muttered.

"This is going to turn nasty…" Alexis agreed.

"With this spell card Joseph, I'm allowed to fusion summon a machine type monster to my field, so I'm combining the two Cyber Dragons on my field, with the third in my hand to create…"

A third Cyber Dragon appeared on the field, and then all 3 combined into this swirl of mechanical bodies and electrical energy.

"The Cyber End Dragon!"

In front of him a massive metal dragon appeared, spread two mighty mechanical wings, and sprouted 'three' heads as it revealed itself. All three of the heads roared in fierce demonstration of the monster's might upon the House Dragonmaid and Joseph, who seemed 'dwarfed' by its sheer size and power by comparison.

[Cyber End Dragon, lvl 10, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 4000 Atk / 2800 Def]

"Now Joseph, here's the best part of Power Bond, the machine type monster fused with this card, has its attack power 'doubled'!"

[Cyber End Dragon 4000 Atk / 2800 Def – 8000 Atk / 2800 Def]

"Hoooooly…" Joseph muttered in shock as he'd never seen a monster with that high an attack, not even the Egyptian God Cards could get that high without an effect to help them.

"It's okay Joseph, if you can just survive this turn, you win due to Power Bond's weakness!" Chumley shouted quickly.

'Of course, Power Bond has a weakness, a massive side effect, Syrus talked about it, so if I can survive, I'll win!' He thought. "I activate the magic card Dragonmaid Send Off!"

Send Off flipped over on his field.

"When this card is activated, I can send a dragonmaid from my field to my hand and summon out another maid with a different name into defense mode. So, I'm bringing back my House Dragonmaid to special summon Nurse Dragonmaid into defense mode."

House nodded as she turned around and walked into the Sendoff, while Nurse walked out and quickly knelt into the defense position with her arms crossed.

"Now normally I can activate my Nurse's effect, but for this turn I choose 'not' to activate it. Now my life points are safe!"

"Good move, but not good enough… you see Joseph, it doesn't matter what mode your dragon's in, because when Cyber End Dragon attacks a monster in defense mode, and its attack points are higher than your monster's defense points, then the difference is dealt as 'piercing' battle damage!"

"But… you have to destroy my monster to do that, I remember, that's exactly how Ancient Gear Golem worked!" He said. "Send Off makes my monster immune to battle, you can't destroy her until the end of my next turn!"

"That may be, but that's not how Piercing Battle Damage works Joseph, it doesn't matter if the monster is destroyed or not… true your maid will survive, but your life points wont…" Zane said as Cyber End Dragon readied its attack. "Go, Cyber End Dragon, attack with Strident Blaze!"

Cyber End Dragon roared, before 'launching' its assault at the terrified Nurse Dragonmaid, who tried to release a field of draconic energy to shield herself, but all that happened was that 'she' was spared the brunt of the attack, while everything else smashed into Joseph, enveloping him in a brilliant white light.

When the dust settled Joseph breathed a sigh of air, before watching his life points drop to zero.

[Joseph Takara - 0 / Zane Truesdale – 1000]

He looked defeated from the side lines, and for a moment Alexis was actually worried about how he'd react to losing to Zane. "Hey, Joseph you okay?" Syrus yelled as he ran over with Chumley.

"Yea Jay, talk to us bro."

Joseph smiled as he stood up straight and looked over at Zane to say, "Good Duel Zane… I 'almost' had you for a second."

"Maybe next time." Zane agreed.

Suddenly there was an applause from the sidelines as everyone looked to see…

"Wonderful Duel, simply marvelous, a fine display of sportsmanship and friendly competition between you two. And it was wonderful to see those lovely maids in action in person Joseph-Boy."

"Pegasus?"

"Maximilion Pegasus himself graces our duel with his presence?" Zane asked in amazement.

"Now now, I'm just a bystander, nobody special. Just a simple observer to a wonderful duel. I just wanted to see those lovely maids in action in person is all, I was enjoying the nighttime view, and I saw a duel nearby, so I decided to check it out." Pegasus said. "But it's a good thing I managed to find you this late, you see I'm leaving in the morning and there was something I forgot to mention during our lovely talk when all the cards were being reprinted."

"Uhm, what's that?" He asked as everyone got together to listen.

Pegasus smiled as he pointed at his cards, specifically his House Dragonmaid that was in his hand.

"That deck is 'incomplete'…" He said.

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled together, everyone but Zane.

"Incomplete, but… I thought I had them all!"

"You 'do', but there is 1 card missing, because it hasn't been created yet." Pegasus said with a smirk. "It's the House Dragonmaid, you see she has one more form, a Dragon form, a 'true' form like the others. More powerful than 'all' of the others combined, even House doesn't compare or even come close."

"More powerful, how powerful could she be?" Joseph asked as he looked at House.

"Well… to put it into perspective, the House Dragonmaid is about… oh, this just a ballpark estimate mind you… she's about one fifth as strong as her 'dragon form' is." Pegasus said with a smile. "Her true form is something special… but I haven't been able to create it yet."

"Why is that?" Zane asked politely.

"You see my fine duelist; I haven't been able to locate the image to base the card on!" Pegasus said. "All of the dragons have an image I've based them on, but the House Dragonmaid card is still missing, still out there, still waiting to be found. Once I can find it, I promise you though… the House Dragonmaid's true form will FINALLY be unveiled and you Joseph, will be given the 'only' copy to ever exist in the entire world!"

At that he looked at his House Dragonmaid card, and imagined just what her true form looked like, and just how powerful she could get. "Well even if she's not as strong as she could be, I'm still happy with her as she is."

"As you should be… well I thank you for your entertaining duel, I must go sadly, I wish you all good luck in your endeavors." Pegasus said, and with that he left them.

Zane wished them good night, Alexis also wished everyone a good night and they all returned to the Obelisk Blue dorms. Joseph, Syrus and Chumley headed over to the Slifer Red dorms.

"Can you believe how awesome your brother is Syrus, he's got skills…"

"Yea, but I got the good looks!"

"Hahahah!" Chumley laughed alongside Joseph.

"What its true!"

A while later they reached the dorms, and he asked them for a bit of time to himself outside while they got ready for bed. Sheou soon arrived as he looked over the ocean, and when she asked if he needed her help, he said no but asked her for some alone time.

She looked surprised but smiled and nodded, bowing to him and saying, "I will be inside your room awaiting your arrival." Before leaving him.

He looked over the ocean and breathed a sigh of relief, before saying, "Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" as he pulled his cards out.

As one all four of his draconic friends appeared.

'What is it master?' Nudyarl asked sweetly.

"Did you girls really come to me?" He asked Nudyarl. "I mean… did you find 'me', or did I find you? Did you choose to be with me or did…? I just want to know, why me?"

As one all of his Dragonmaids looked at one another with worried expressions, before Nudyarl once more floated closer and looked at him lovingly. 'Master, we chose you because we loved being with you! That's all the reason we need.'

He was quiet as he thought about her reason.

'Master… do you not like being with us?' Ernus asked nervously.

'We know we sometimes… get over enthusiastic about being with you.' Tinkech said quietly.

'Not to mention a little clingy when it comes to sleeping with you.' Lorpar whispered.

'But we do it because we love being with you!' Nudyarl quickly stated.

He took a deep breath before turning to Nudyarl and smiling in agreement. "Yea, I love being with you girls as well, so I'm happy to have you girls with me as well!"

All four of them squealed in delight as they swarmed him and cuddled him.

"But can you 'please' be quiet a bit more often during the day, you girls are very distracting sometimes!"

'No promises!' They all cheered happily as they all headed back to the dorm to sleep.

.

.

.

.

=Next Time, Joseph vs Yugi?, The Copycat Duelist, Battle the King of Games=

"Never doubt your power master, believe in your heart, your power, your abilities as a duelist, and believe in us your ever faithful servants. The Heart of the Cards is the heart you put in 'your' cards. If your heart is strong my master, then there is nothing we cannot or will not accomplish for you. For you are our master, the Master… of the Dragonmaids!"

.

.

=From the Author=

Thoughts on the duel?

Did you like it?

Also if your wondering why the 'card nerfs', this is just me admitting I was reading effects wrong about the cards, and there were a few times I fluffed up with the effects during previous duels. At a few points I had Joseph using Send Off to pull monsters from the grave instead of the hand, or having Tidying's effect activate and then activate again on the same turn…

And Kitchen got the biggest nerf hammer swing, I think I made her 'op' because I kept ignoring her 'discard 1 dragonmaid monster after drawing 1 dragonmaid monster' from the deck. Plus there were a few times where I had the maids/dragons activate their effects more than once, this is me admitting I made mistakes and showing I won't make those mistakes in the future.

Also cause I'm too lazy to go back and rework every duel so its accurate… just pretend they were using pre-nerf effects like Sinister Serpent before 'it' got nerfed.

Thank you Master Duel for helping me learn how dragonmaid cards 'actually' work.

Next duel, the King of Games deck, the last duel before the Chazz Returns. And Joseph is going to get a 'very' special card as a reward for beating the king of games' deck, like how Jaden got a signed poster for beating it in the anime.

I also hope nobody is 'mad' at me for making Zane… act a little different in my story compared to the anime. I figured if he heard an honest 'talk' from one of Syrus' friends, particularly Jospeh, then maybe he'd hang out with his bro more as he realized that 'yes' dueling is his life, but at the end of the day he still has a Brother who looks up to him and takes what he said to heart.

Also 'did' syrus get the good looks, I'm still not convinced.