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.

11. Chapter 10

"Oh my Young Master… some duels are more than just duels, and more than what they appear on the surface. Some duels mean far more to the duelist who is not you, then what the duel means to 'you'. Those who are not your enemy can become your friend, for you two might share more in common then what you might have believed at first. Never underestimate the power of friendship, as humble and silly as it may sound, true friendship once forged, an unbreakable chain it will become."

"Once it has linked two individuals, once who were enemies, they will become as close as kin as two family members could be."

"Our bond with you is strong, and the chain we share grows stronger still… imagine what a chain forged between you two could create?"

= Chapter 10 Prologue =

Deep in the frozen peaks and frosted lands that surrounded the only sign of civilization for what was most assuredly 'miles', dark clouds gathered and prepared to unleash their torrential rain upon the lands below. Soon it would unleash a powerful downpour, but that was not what mattered at this time.

No, for within this solitary community, known as North Academy, the host of the student 'and' faculty stood below pillar of the central hub of the academy grounds. While outside was a frozen wasteland, North Academy itself was far more 'western' in appearance, with its wooden buildings and cutthroat nature that everything gave off. Saloons and cabins dotted everywhere, even a well sat in the middle of town with a sign telling everyone to 'take their turns' when getting water.

The students wore heavy jackets and pants in varying shades of grey and brown, all of them looking up as the announcement was made by Chancellor Foster.

But again, none of that mattered…

"Students of North Academy, I present to you… our new TOP DUELIST!" He declared as lightning flashed, and thunder sounded. "And to this student… I present… Duel Academy's TOP dueling cards!"

Chancellor Foster, a balding man with a slight amount of hair on his head, turned to face a single duelist standing behind him, holding out a stack of the academy's finest cards that were now 'his'.

The student took the cards, smirking as he knew that he now had what was needed to take on the opponent he had been waiting to duel for weeks since he left Duel Academy. He had the knowledge, he had the skill, and now… he had the 'cards', all he needed was the 'opportunity' and that was coming soon.

Chazz smirked as he turned to look out below at all of the students below him. It felt like a year, but it was only a few weeks, barely more than two weeks since he left that academy and made his way here to North Academy.

When he first came here, he met that creepy old man, Foster who was disguised at the time, and he 'accidentally' dropped his cards he handed in a fishing hole deep in the frozen wastelands. Unfortunately, his boat had already left, and so he'd been forced to head over to North Academy if he wanted to get help. When he arrived, another 'creepy old man', again Foster but he didn't know at the time, told him that if he wanted to get in he had to have a deck consisting of at least 40 cards, but he wouldn't sell him his deck of 39, and so Chazz had to wander the wastelands to find his deck of 40 cards.

It was hard work, braving icebergs, wading through half frozen water, climbing icy cliffs and snow-covered walls to find those cards, but he returned with them. Out of pity, he tried to hand over 1 card, buuuuut he just couldn't, that wasn't important though, in the end he handed over another card and the old man gratefully thanked him and ran into the academy, leaving Chazz to wait outside so he could 'make his own entrance'. Unfortunately, Chazz had given him his '40th' card, leaving him with only 39. After sighing and doing some self-searching, he got up and realized that he'd been sitting on another card the entire time.

Once he had enough cards, he entered the academy and then went through their pathetic little hazing ritual, a 50 Man Duel Gauntlet as they called it. He dueled fifty students, one after another, using every card he'd gathered in the wastes to earn his place in the school hierarchy, even the strongest duelist, number '50' as he said, some idiot who called himself the Czar!

Long story short, he won, and now he was going to get his shot at defeating Duel Academy's representative in the school duel, who turned out to be none other than Joseph Takara!

He knew Joseph was going to become the representative, he 'knew' that guy was going to be chosen, and so his plan had come together flawlessly.

That left only one thing as he held up the cards high above his head!

"With these, he will triumph… he… will CHAZZ IT UP!"

"DUEL ACADEMY IS TOAAAAAAST!" Chazz screamed to a flash of lightning.

"CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UUUUUUP!"

"I'm coming for you Joseph, and this time… I am going to WIN! No matter how many of your little maids I have to go through to achieve it!'

= Chapter 10, Chazz vs Joseph =

= The School Duel, True Friendship in the Cards =

Joseph closed his eyes as he imagined that morning's activities, he got up early thanks to Sheou waking up him earlier than usual, and quietly headed over to the café which was 'closed' in the morning to the staff and student body. There he would enjoy his breakfast, take time to enjoy his morning and mentally prepare himself for the duel that day. His breakfast was probably going to be something simple, eggs, bacon, maybe some toast and a glass of milk or tea, or even just a simple glass of water.

It was the big day that he'd been preparing for, practicing endless hours on end, studying countless cards and strategies, going over every scenario in his head and not giving himself time to have any fun for himself for the sake of not letting the entire school down. He'd enjoy the quiet time, before going to meet his opponent at the pier when North Academy arrived.

'At least that's how I 'imagined' it!' He thought to himself as he moaned inwardly.

Upon entering the café, he was squeezed into a tight hug by Kite, as she gave him her usual 'super-duper good luck hug' that she 'always' found an excuse to give him, tightly embracing him against her chest. Lora had shoved herself in between them to save his lungs from suffocation, but she also made sure to hug him close to herself. Then of course Luna had fully laid out his freshly laundered clothes for him to change into and even dragged him over to his 'surprise breakfast' that was specially prepared for him that day at the table they reserved for him and his friends each day. Soon after Sun was spoiling him next, trying to make sure he was healthy and had no potential illnesses that would ruin his day. Finally, Amber fawned over him, combing his hair and straightening his outfit while the others were distracted so he could focus on 'readying himself' for the duel.

Only 'Sheou' could reign them all in, as she whipped out her smacking stick after she came back, having forgotten his duel disk back in his dorm room, and smacked all five of the girls to get them off him to focus on their tasks that morning.

"I don't think I need to repeat myself that our master cannot possibly prepare himself mentally for the day if he has so many maids attempting to tend to him at the same time, do I?" She asked them 'politely', but her calm smile belayed the angry draconic aura and dragon visage that emanated from her. "After all, it would be 'very' inappropriate for so many maids to be tending to a 'single' master 'this early' in the morning and especially at the same time, am I correct? And you five are supposed to be 'working' here, you haven't forgotten that have you?"

"Y-y-y-ye-es-s-sss… m-m-m-ma-a'am!" They all stuttered in fear together as they cowered at the sight of the smacking stick.

"Good… now… 'get to work'!" She whispered, and instantly all five girls ran out the door, leaving only a smoke trail behind while the door closed slowly behind them. "Those five… what will I ever do with them?"

He sighed as he slowly ate his breakfast.

He knew they were only trying to help him, trying to cheer him up and get him ready while also distracting him, doing all they could so he only had to focus on the duel coming up. But they just reminded him of how many students were expecting him and counting on him to win today.

'Well, if I lose then I guess the only way I can redeem myself is if I do something crazy like… I don't know, save the world?' He tried joking to himself.

Sheou walked over and poured him some tea to drink, afterwards she dusted and wiped his duel disk clean. She also organized his cards in the order he found them, according to him, and then replaced them in the duel disk's deck slot. All while she did this, the hum of music sounded from the record player nearby, helping soothe his tension and feelings about dueling that day.

After he finished eating and drinking, he sighed again as he tried clearing his head.

"I can't wait for this duel to be over and done with, regardless of if I win or lose Sheou." He told her.

"It will be better for you since you'll be able to return to normal classes and classwork." Sheou replied warmly. "Depending on the outcome of the duel, what will you do if I may inquire?"

"Well… if I win, I think I'll celebrate with my friends!" He said cheerfully.

"And if you lose?"

"Hide in my room in shame or fake my death and run away!" He also said cheerfully.

Sheou 'lightly' tapped his forehead with her smacking stick, though she did so with a joking smile as she knew he was just messing around. "Young Master, it is unbecoming of you to joke about ending your own life over such a thing as losing a duel." She said warmly while smiling lovingly at him. "However, if you really insist, I suppose I could… 'fake' you are being transferred to another school if you so desire, and we can run away in the middle of the night!"

"You know any schools I can run to where nobody will know me?" He laughed as she chuckled in response.

"Well, I'm 'sure' I can find one or two far away that will satisfy your needs." She chuckled.

They laughed a little more after that with Joseph joking about the elaborate methods that they could use to leave Duel Academy if he lost, from him building a raft and Sheou suggesting booking transport aboard one of the ships that arrived on the island regularly. They continued to get sillier and sillier as time went on, until Joseph finally sighed and felt more relaxed about the upcoming duel.

"Thanks a lot, Sheou, I really needed that…" He said gratefully. "I am super nervous about today's duel."

Sheou nodded in understanding as she stood beside him. "There's a lot of pressure on you to win today, isn't there?"

"Yea, I know it's the big school duel but… I just don't want to let anyone down, not only the ENTIRE school, but also you and the other girls, not to mention… well you get what I mean."

Sheou nodded as she leaned down and pulled him into a warm hug, holding him close to her and humming lightly. "Just remember young master, don't worry about what might happen if you fail, you don't know the duel's outcome any more than I or any duelist out there. None of us knows what will happen one minute from now, one hour from now, one day or one week, a month or a year from the moment we think such thoughts. Just focus on what you can do 'now', and what you are able to do 'now'. No matter what the outcome, if you have done the best that you can do… then you will have done all that you could hope to ever do, and nobody can blame you for doing otherwise."

"I know, I just don't want to fail in front of the whole school is all." He muttered.

She nodded as she hugged him tightly for a second before letting him go and standing straight again. "Failure is always expected, but I know you can rise above it." She said.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and they both turned to see Syrus open it up and look around for him. "There you are Joseph, come on, you have to hurry if you're going to make it to the pier! North Academy just arrived, and that means your opponent has arrived as well!"

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's get this started." He laughed, but inside his heart skipped a beat out of nervousness.

With that he got up and Sheou quickly took his dishes, saying she will join him later after she cleans them.

Both he and Syrus headed away from the Café, down the main road to the school building, and from there down to the pier where they could see a large mass of students were standing with some space in between them and what looked like a submarine. Joseph was very surprised to see a submarine docking there. It was his first time seeing an 'actual' submarine in real life, and he was even more surprised to see that it was very large.

But he could admire its size later, he rushed down with Syrus to join the throng of students and meet his opponent.

Down at the pier as the drew nearer, he could see Chancellor Shepard standing there and shaking hands with another man who appeared to be similar in age to him.

"Foster, it's been ages, welcome to Duel Academy, how have you been doing all this time?" Shepard said.

"Oh, I've been doing well, you know… ever since I got over the defeat you handed us last year." Foster replied with more resentment in his voice.

"Doooh it was a close match!"

"Not really, but I have a feeling 'this' year is going to be different."

"Indeed, to a spirited duel then between our two schools."

Joseph managed to walk through the crowd with Syrus and walked up to the two Chancellors who were still trading words, talking about some 'bet' they had that was the same as last year. When he got up to the front he smiled and greeted the two men.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Joseph Takara, and I'm the duelist representing Duel Academy!" He said proudly.

"Ah, Joseph, yes I've heard about you, word travels around in the dueling school world after all, I'm Chancellor Foster." The North Academy chancellor said. "You're the duelist with the world famous, Dragonmaid deck, quite a pleasure to meet you, and I can't wait to see those wonderful cards in action!"

"You'll see them alright, so uh… not to sound rude but, who will my opponent be, I wanna say hi to them!"

"I know you're eager Joseph, just like everyone else is, we were actually about to greet them right now." Shepard said.

"Sweet, I can't wait to meet them!" Joseph said excitedly.

"Why wait to meet them when you already know them!" A familiar voice called out.

Joseph turned to see with several other North Academy students who were just getting off the submarine standing with a student that he was 'surprised' to see to say the least. Surrounded by five very strong looking duelists was none other than Chazz Princeton, no longer wearing his Obelisk Blue dorm blazer and uniform, instead he was clad in a full black jacket and matching colored pants with a purple t-shirt.

"Wait… 'CHAZZ'?" He asked in astonishment. "What are 'you' doing here? When did you come back?"

"Well, I think I arrived about the same time as the sub arrived." He said with a frown. "As for why I'm here, what do you think, I'm here to 'duel'."

"Wait… then… 'you're' my opponent… when did you transfer to North Academy?" He asked as the wheels began ticking in his head, right as his dragon friends began appearing around him.

'Okay so who had 'day one arch nemesis suddenly arriving on a submarine to be master's opponent in the most important duel of his school year' on their bingo card?' Lorpar asked.

'I think I had 'random bald guy who looks thirty'.' Nudyarl whispered as she looked at Chazz.

'Better than mine, I said it was going to be 'weird girl who develops a crush on master after losing to him and is obsessed with frogs'.' Tinkech said.

'So much for my guess, I had 'first year student we never heard of who would become master's eternal rival' for mine.' Ernus sighed.

He was a bit more preoccupied by Chazz being there after the big deal he made when he left, to chuckle at their internal chatter.

"So, you transferred to North Academy after you lost to me in the promotion duel?" He asked. "Any particular reason why?"

"Yea, because I wanted to get stronger Joseph, so I could take you on again, only this time we're not 'classmates'." He replied.

"Yea!" His fellow North Academy students said.

"That's right, you took him down a few pegs last time he was here, now he's back to put the pegs in 'you' and use you as a stepping stool!"

"He's ganna Chazz you up!"

"They're right, this time it's going to be different." Chazz said coldly, but there was something else in his tone as well as his eyes.

Joseph didn't know why, but there was really something different about the way Chazz was standing there, looking at him. It just felt like Joseph was staring at a different Chazz, the Chazz he dueled before was cocky, confident, acted superior and pretended others were beneath him. This time however, as Joseph looked into his eyes, he really didn't look the same, his face was hardened, his voice was calmer, his tone more controlled, even how he stood was far more relaxed and in control. He also had this 'aura' about him… he couldn't explain it, but something just told him that Chazz was not the same duelist who he dueled against his first day here 'or' during the promotional exams.

Then he saw Chazz's eyes flicker, ever so slightly to Joseph's left and right, before focusing on him again.

'Uh… did Chazz just look at us?' Nudyarl muttered quietly.

'You're imagining it, only master can see and hear us.' Tinkech said.

Joseph however noticed how Chazz's brow furrowed slightly, as if in response to those two talking. "So, Joseph, did you prepare for today, because I most certainly did!"

"Yep, I studied, but I wasn't expecting you to be my opponent." Joseph countered politely.

'I'm telling you, he just looked at us!' Nudyarl whispered quietly again, looking worried as Chazz followed her movement for just a moment, before once again focusing squarely on Joseph.

'Don't move, his eyesight is based on movement!' Lorpar whispered even more quietly out of the corner of her mouth.

'He's not a dinosaur Lorpar…' Ernus hissed even 'more' quietly through her teeth.

'You're all just being silly, watch!' Tinkech called out as she floated over to Chazz. 'Yooohooo, Mister Chaaaaazz, hellooooooooo~!'

She floated in front of Chazz and began waving her claw in his face with a smile, before sticking her tongue out at him.

'Blyeeeeeeeeeh!'

Instantly he blew a puff of air and shoved his hair aside, but it was enough to scare Tinkech away and back over to Joseph.

'Okay I think he can see us, not sure but I'm suspecting it!' She whispered nervously.

Suddenly the wind began whirling around them and he heard the sounds of helicopter propellers. Joseph and everyone else looked up to see just that, two helicopters flying overhead and making their way lower and lower to the ground.

"Whoa, who else is showing up to this duel that I'm not aware of?" Joseph asked in surprise.

The door to one of the helicopters opened up and two men leaned out to stare down at the crowd of students, both of them in business suits and looking familiar.

"Hi little brother!"

"Mind if we drop in?"

'Little brother…' He thought in confusion before he looked back and saw Chazz's expression from before change entirely to surprise and shock, before he glared back.

"Jagger, Slade, what are you doing here?" He yelled as they jumped out of the chopper.

"What else, to see your triumphant dueling victory!"

"You 'are' going to win this right?"

Moments after that several vans pulled up to the pier and people began hustling and moving around with rapid movement and urgency, unpacking several boxes, lights, cameras and a host of other things.

"Uh, what is going on here?" Foster asked.

"What's going on, this school duel of course, we're going to broadcast this duel worldwide! You're on prime-time baby!" Someone with a microphone said enthusiastically.

"Wait wha?!" Joseph yelled out in surprise.

'Alright, bingo card check, who had 'surprise camera crews appear to broadcast master's duel across to the world' written down?' Nudyarl said with a sigh of disbelief.

'Not me, I had 'school chancellor suddenly walks out in public with a toupee on', and you know that aint happening.' Lorpar said.

'I'll say that I had 'old lady cheerleaders in bikinis arrive to cheer on master' on my bingo card.' Ernus whispered.

'I put 'Dorothy the card shop lady kisses the chancellor on the cheek' for mine.' Tinkech muttered.

"You mean, my duel is going to be on TV… seen around the world… by thousands of people I don't know!?" He yelled.

'Aaaaand master panics before the duel begins, who else had that for their bingo card?' Tinkech asked.

'Me!' The other three declared.

An hour later Joseph was alone with Sheou in one of the side rooms beneath the Duel Arena, preparing himself mentally for his duel against Chazz, while Sheou warmly combed his hair and straightened his clothes.

"Great… as if it weren't bad enough that I'm having to duel in front of another school as well as my own, but I'm going to be dueling on TV in front of the entire world? Is it too late to fake my own death Sheou?"

"Considering everyone saw you alive and well a while ago, I believe it is so Master." Sheou said politely.

"Well, I can still hide in my room out of embarrassment if I lose." Joseph replied as Sheou finished and said she would leave him to wait for the duel's conclusion in the stands.

"Good luck Young Master, I wish you success." She said warmly before leaving him alone.

He took a deep breath as he took out his cards from his custom duel disk, and looked at his Dragonmaids, Tinkech, Ernus, Nudyarl, Lorpar, Chamber and House. "Girls… I'll do my best, so let's win this for everyone in Duel Academy out there cheering me on!" He declared as four of them appeared at his words.

'We're with you all the way Master!' Lorpar declared happily.

'We believe in you!' Tinkech said cheerfully.

'All for one and one for all!' Nudyarl cheered.

'You have nothing to fear, you've been training for this day Master!' Ernus lovingly encouraged him.

He nodded proudly as they all encouraged him with their words. Then he did something corny and held his hand out, and together they each placed a claw over it.

"Let's show Chazz 'Dragonmaid Domination'!"

'Dragonmaid Domination!' All of them cheered together before vanishing into their cards, just as he got up and proudly walked out of the room.

He walked forward down the hallway to head upstairs, before he began hearing someone yelling in a bathroom on the way. Out of curiosity he slowed down and was about to walk in, both to see what was up, and to see if he could help in some way, when the words they were yelling began to clear up and make more sense.

"MAN UP CHAZZ, MAN UP!"

He paused again, and crept to the door to listen in.

"Man up… you stupid idiot, man up and show EVERYONE who's boss. Show your brothers, show them all, show the whole world, show them that you're the best, that your supreme… THAT YOU CAN WIN, AND KEEP WINNING, AND WIN AND WIN AND WIN SOME MORE!"

He glanced around the corner before he saw a sight that he 'didn't' think he'd ever see.

Chazz was halfway on his knees, his eyes closed and staring at the floor as he punched the sink, the wall, the sink again and then the air as he spoke. His voice cracked and shook as he did, and it looked to him that he was on the verge of crying. He sounded like he was on the verge of screaming in anger and despair, fear and frustration, all mixed together as he continued to berate and yell at himself.

"Man up… so MAN UP AND WIN… come on and show them all that Chazz Princeton is a winner, that you're worthy of the Princeton name. That you are a winner, and you can keep winning… do your part you useless idiot, do your part, don't lose, DON'T LOSE. Do you hear me Chazz, WIN!"

Joseph just looked sadly as Chazz continued to berate and hurt himself, tears struggling to fall as his opponent fought them back to stay 'angry', but not at… anyone in particular.

"So go out there… go out there… win… do your part and win, show them your supreme, that you're the best… it's the plan… it's the plan… it's the plan… an… an… so win… and p-ove that… you can w-in!" He began sobbing now, fighting still to keep the tears out, but the anger was slowly dying in his voice. "Don't lose… don't lose to him again. You can't lose again, you've been waiting for this day, you've been waiting… you've been preparing, you can win, so don't lose, get out there and WIN!"

Beside him his Dragonmaids also appeared, looking sadly as they too watched Chazz beating himself up, before Joseph backed away and walked on, leaving Chazz to moan and beat himself up more. Even as he left Chazz's voice behind, he looked back and thought about his opponent.

"Suddenly this duel doesn't seem as important as I once thought girls."

'What do we do Master?' Nudyarl asked sadly.

He pulled out his deck and then pulled out a card that he'd left sitting with House as his 'good luck charm', the card given to him by Yugi Moto. Thinking quickly, he swapped it with his second copy of Dragonmaid Downtime from his deck, leaving him with only one solitary copy of the card for his duel.

'Master, that card's effect doesn't help you at all, why would you add it to your deck, especially for a duel this important?' Ernus asked him curiously.

"I know, but… I think I can use it." He told them as he walked on, placing his spare Downtime in his deck box where he kept his Dragonmaid cards that weren't being used in his deck at the time. "Something's going on with Chazz, something super heavy… and sure it may cost me the duel, but I want to try and help him if I can."

'Ooooh master's got a plaaaan~!' Nudyarl whispered cheerfully.

'I love it when master comes up with a plan on the spot like this.' Ernus said happily.

'Operation Rescue Arch Nemesis is a go!' Lorpar cheered.

"Oh, good grief…"

Inside the duel arena Joseph saw all of the students taking their seats, Duel Academy's Ras, Slifers and Obelisks all occupying one half, while North Academy's students all on the other half. It was obvious that they were going to be rooting for their candidate against the other side. There was now the inclusion of several camera crews, evidence of the earlier camera people who said they'd be broadcasting the duel live. He could even see Chazz's two brothers sitting in prime seats.

He could see several banners being waved around by Duel Academy students, several of them being renditions of a past banner made by Chumley, featuring him with his four iconic Dragonmaids in their dragon forms, with the silhouette of Slifer the Sky Dragon in the background. There were several phrases, such as saying, 'Ras rah for Joseph!' and 'Give them the Fist of Fate'. But by far the most popular was the one Chumley coined, 'Ride the Wings of Slifer Victory!' that Chumley wrote for his duel against Bastion.

"Man, Chumley was really working overtime for those banners." He said as his draconic friends appeared again beside him.

'Does my tail really look that big?' Nudyarl asked.

'At least it's only your tail, my wings are not that small.' Tinkech complained.

'Ugh… Chumley's good at drawing but he could have captured the look of my scales better.' Lorpar complained as well.

'I think we all look so adorable~!' Ernus said happily. 'He really captured our looks!'

"Yea, they look really good." Joseph agreed.

"Ya, I think they turned out super licious too!" Chumley said as he and his other friends walked over to them.

"So, Joseph, your big duel is here, feel confident?" Alexis asked warmly.

"Yea, I guess." He whispered as he saw Chazz walking into the arena, looking like when they saw him before.

"What's wrong Joseph, this is your big day, your epic duel that you've been preparing for weeks for, and against your archrival since day one you came here to boot, why aren't you excited?"

"It's nothing serious, it just feels like… well… I overhead something going on with Chazz, and it didn't sound like a good thing." He said as he watched Chazz talking it up with several North Academy students. "I think something is up with Chazz and his brother, and he's under a lot of pressure to win this duel… probably even more than 'me'."

"You think so?" Bastion asked as they all looked at him now. "He looks like the same Chazz we all know and loathe."

"Yea, 'way' more pressure than me." He spoke. "I don't know what is going, but Chazz is really pushing himself to win this duel. I'm not sure what will happen to him if he loses this, or more importantly what he 'thinks' will happen to him."

"So, what are you going to do?" Alexis asked.

"What else, I'm going to do what I prepared to do today, duel… and try to figure out what is going on before it ends." He explained. "Maybe I can help him…"

He didn't have anymore time to talk though, as Shepard and Foster stood up and a hush started to spread as everyone waited for the duel to begin.

"Attention everyone, settle down, first I want to welcome to Duel Academy the students from North Academy, and I hereby welcome EVERYONE to the Annual School Duel!" Shepard said.

"Yes, and on behalf of North Academy I gratefully thank our hosts, and now without further ado!"

"LET THIS YEAR'S DUEL, FINALLY BEGIN!"

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as they all prepared for the duel to begin, banners waving and fists sky punching.

"Doctor Crowler, introduce the competitors!"

[With Pleasure Chancellor Shepard!] Doctor Crowler declared over the microphone as cameras began zooming in on both him and Chazz, once they climbed onto the stage. [And I'm proud to introduce them, after all, these are two students that I know personally, and personally I adore them! FIRST, from the Slifer Red Dorm, representing our very own Duel Academy… Joseph TAKARA!"

"Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph!" All the North Academy students chanted.

"GO JOOOO!"

"SHOW EM WHAT YOU GOT LITTLE BRO!"

"Woooooohoooo!"

He looked behind him and smiled while waving up at the highest point in the stands, where the girls from the Café were all cheering and waving little 'Go Jo' Flags, with the logo of the café printed on them. He knew they were there slacking off from their duties as normal, no doubt Sheou would eat them out later on, but he was happy to see them there cheering him on. Knowing they were there made him want to put on a good performance for their sake, so they could see him duel in epic fashion in front of a huge crowd!

[And now, his opponent, introducing… from North Academy-]

"Get off the stage…"

[Wha?] Crowler asked in surprise.

"I'll introduce myself, 'scrub'."

[I BEG YOUR PARDON!?] He yelled angrily as he spun around to yell angrily at Chazz. [SCRUBS DON'T HAVE A PHD IN DUELING!]

Unfortunately, he had neglected to remember the fact that the microphone he was holding had a very long chord, that made itself apparent as he became tied up.

"Aaaalthough, not tying myself up, would have been a better major right about nooooooOW!" Crowler cried as he fell backward and off the stage.

"Ouch… is he okay?" He muttered.

Seconds later Crowler slooowly rose up with a bemused look of pain on his face. "Iiii'm okaaaay thanks for asking…"

"Hope he's okay." He said quietly.

"Maybe you ought to worry about yourself instead of him Joseph, cause now its Chazz Princeton's turn to talk, but then again… I don't need an introduction, everyone knows who I am around here, or 'do they'?" He said as he looked around. "Yea sure, I WAS a classmate of yours, but that was 'before', now I'm a different Chazz, a better Chazz, the North Academy Chazz! The Chazz you all knew is long gone, he's changed, when I left here, I left my OLD self behind, and like a phoenix I've risen from the ashes of my old self to emerge stronger than before. AND I'M HERE… TO…"

"Chazz it UP, Chazz it UP, Chazz it UUUUUP!" The North Academy students chanted.

"That's right, I'm here to CHAZZ YOU UP!"

"SHOW HIM NO MERCY CHAZZ!"

In the stands Joseph's friends were listening to the chants with mild surprise.

"Wow, it sounds like they all respect and admire him." Alexis said with a shocked expression.

"Indeed, that was rather well coordinated on their part." Bastion agreed.

"He definitely looks different compared to the last time we saw him, that means this is going to be an interesting duel." Zane said calmly.

"Now let's get this duel started!" Chazz yelled. "Show me what you got Joseph!"

"With pleasure Chazz." He countered back sternly, the moments of worry had passed, it was time to put all of his training to use.

"No, the pleasure's going to be all mine, this time, you don't stand a chance! GO TIME!"

"DUEL!" They both declared in unison.

[Chazz Princeton - 4000 / Joseph Takara - 4000]

Both of their duel disks extended, life points were counted, decks shuffled and finally opening hands were drawn and distributed.

(Chazz Princeton) [Armed Dragon LV 3, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 4, Level Up!, Armed Dragon Lightning, Call of the Haunted]

(Joseph Takara) [Masked Dragon, Dragon Rage, Dragonmaid Hospitality, Numinous Healer, Dragonmaid Nudyarl]

"Alright Chazz, visitors first!"

"Oh, how 'polite' of you, but since you insist let's get the pain rolling!" He declared as he drew.

[Mystical Space Typhoon]

"I start things off with one card face down, then I'll play, the continuous spell card Armed Dragon Lightning, and finally I'll summon out Armed Dragon lvl 3!"

On the field 2 cards appeared, followed by the monster Armed Dragon lvl 3, an orange dragon with small wings and a muscular body which rose to the field with a growl and confident grin as it pumped its claws, wrapped in metal armor.

[Armed Dragon LV 3, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 1200 Atk / 900 Def]

[I'm back, hope you enjoy hearing my voice explaining cards you probably already know all about, anyway, Armed Dragon LV 3, is a lvl 3 effect Dragon Type Monster, who's effect states that during your standby phase, you can send this card to the graveyard to special summon 1 Armed Dragon LV 5 monster from your hand or deck.]

"Next, I'll activate my Armed Dragon Lightning spell card, once a turn I can target an Armed Dragon I control and give it 100 attack points for each of its levels, I count 3, so have 300 points my dragon. And that'll do it for now!"

[Armed Dragon LV 3 1200 Atk / 900 Def – 1500 Atk / 900 Def]

In the stands people began to murmur quietly as the duel started, but Shepard was looking astonished when he saw the Armed Dragon hit the field.

"Wait, Foster… isn't that one of your school's top cards? No, you didn't…"

Foster smirked as he chuckled, his plan was all coming together. "That's right, I did, I told you Shepard, I want that prize… and I'm going to do whatever it takes this year!"

"Oh yea, well fat chance of that happening, you're not the only one who can bring out rare and powerful cards, bring out those Dragonmaids my boy, SHOW HIM WHAT YOU GOT, JOSEPH IT UP!"

Joseph was confused to say the least, he'd never heard of that card before, or if he did, he probably forgot about it, but something about the way it was named made him think it was more dangerous than Chazz was letting off. That and he was ignoring the Chancellor's call of 'Joseph it Up', it sounded nice when the North Academy students were doing it for Chazz, not so much for him. Still, he nodded and drew his first card.

[Dragonmaid Tinkech]

"Alright, let's do this! I summon out Masked Dragon in attack mode!"

From the field a red and bony dragon roared onto the field, its green eyes glinting behind its bony skull 'mask' and tail whipping menacingly as it snarled.

[Masked Dragon, lvl 3, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 1400 Atk / 1100 Def]

"Alright, time to battle Chazz, Masked Dragon, attack that Armed Dragon now!" He declared without any hesitation.

Everyone gasped as his monster roared and flew at Armed Dragon LV 3, shocked that he would deliberately send his own monster to be destroyed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BOY?" Shepard screamed in horror.

Armed Dragon pulled its arm back and punched Masked Dragon in the stomach, before launching metallic claws into its chest and destroying the beast, taking a tiny chip of 100 life points from Joseph.

[Chazz Princeton - 4000 / Joseph Takara - 3900]

"That stung, but thanks to Masked Dragon's special ability, since it was destroyed in battle, now I can special summon a dragon type monster from my deck as long as it has less than 1500 attack points, and I know who to pick, Kitchen Dragonmaid, come on out!"

In front of him a pillar of crimson draconic fire rose, spread and dissipated to reveal the fiery red haired Dragonmaid, smirking as she bowed at her appearance.

'Mess with my master, and your life will end after!'

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

"Now that she's on my field, I can activate her effect, Kitchen bring Laundry to my hand girl!"

She nodded, turned around and blasted his duel disk with her energy, extracting Laundry from the deck and adding it to his hand.

"Next, I send a Dragonmaid to my grave, sorry Nudyarl, but rules are rules, don't worry you'll be back soon!" He said apologetically to his dragon.

"Big deal, she's no match for my dragon, and its still the battle phase, I'm not scared." Chazz declared.

"Really, let's test that theory shall we, Kitchen Dragonmaid launch your attack!"

Kitchen nodded as she leapt up high and began to gather her energy.

"NOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING BOY?" Shepard screamed as this monster was even 'weaker' than Masked Dragon.

Chazz however grimaced as he knew what was about to happen.

"That's right, she's in my hand, I discard Tinkech to activate her quick effect, giving Kitchen a 2000-point boost to aid in her assault, not bad for a maid huh?"

[Kitchen Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 2500 Atk / 1700 Def]

Kitchen smirked as the visage of her dragon form appeared around her in an aura, aiding in her assault as she sent draconic flame against the Armed Dragon. Armed Dragon melted to the assault and was eviscerated.

[Chazz Princeton - 3000 / Joseph Takara - 3900]

In the stands Zane was smiling, that was a very good play for his opening move.

"Not bad, he deliberately sacrificed Masked Dragon so he could quickly get a maid into position without losing too much board presence, and at the same time he dealt a powerful blow to Chazz's life points."

"Not only that, but he's also got 2 of his Dragonmaids in perfect position to make use of their dragon forms next turn, not only did he get the lead, but he also did so without losing any of his momentum from that first bit of damage loss." Alexis added.

"All of that training paid off, good thing we all chipped in to help him." Bastion agreed.

"Way to go Jo, take it to him!"

Down on the field Chazz glared back defiantly, he expected that, he just wished it didn't happen so soon, but at least now he knew what was coming. "Nice moves Joseph, but I'm not scared, I activate my face down, Call of the Haunted, this lets me revive one monster from my grave, guess who's coming back, EEEEH, too late, here he is, ARMED DRAGON LV 3 RISE!"

His face down appeared and moments after, Armed Dragon LV 3 rose once more.

[Armed Dragon LV 3, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 1200 Atk / 900 Def]

"Well, that was a short-lived reprieve, I activate my magic card, Dragonmaid Hospitality." He declared, activating the magic card. "Now I can special summon a Dragonmaid from my hand or grave to the field in defense mode, and then I can send a Dragonmaid to the grave from my deck with matching attribute but a different level, Laundry your up girl!"

An azure pillar of draconic flame rose before Laundry humbly knelt before Joseph, arms crossed and looking proud to stand before him. 'I'm ready to roll master, give me an order!'

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

"Alright, do your best girl, I activate your effect! So, send the top 3 cards of my deck to my grave."

She nodded, turned, and blasted his duel disk with her draconic energy.

He watched as all three were extracted and then he sent them one by one.

[Dragonmaid Shrine, Dragonmaid Tidying, Nurse Dragonmaid.]

"Two outa three, not bad, I activate the Tidying I just sent, banishing it from my grave and bringing Nurse to my field in defense mode, but she goes back to my hand afterwards!"

From the field a pastel pillar of flame rose, before Nurse dissipated it and appeared, kneeling before Joseph and smiling warmly back at him as she addressed him now.

'Master, I can't bring anyone back or stay on the field, why would you summon me out this early?'

"Just an insurance policy, I play two cards face down and now with that I finally end my turn."

Nurse nodded and vanished from the field, returning to his hand as Tidying's effect ended, and right after Dragons Rage and Numinous Healer appeared on the field face down.

"My turn…" Chazz said as he drew his next card and 'smiled'. [Pot of Greed]

"Joseph, you have no idea the pain your about to feel, I told you I was 'prepared' for you, and now you're going to see why I'm the best, why I'll always be the best, and why I'll never STOP being the best… first off, I activate my monster's effect, when Armed Dragon LV 3 is on the field during my standby phase, his effect allows me to send him to the grave, and special summon to my field, an upgraded form. So, make way Armed Dragon LV 3, for the Armed Dragon LV 5!"

Armed Dragon disappeared in a burst of light, before being replaced by another 'armed dragon' that roared and pumped its fist, red this time and wearing black armor with pointed spikes and sharpened serrated disks, but still with small wings.

[Armed Dragon LV 5, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1700 Def]

[Armed Dragon LV 5 is a monster with the effect, that if you discard a monster card from your hand to the grave, you can target one monster the opponent has face up and destroy it if it has equal or fewer attack points to the one you just discarded. During the end phase, if this card successfully destroyed a monster in battle, you can send this face up card to the grave and special summon Armed Dragon LV 7 from your hand or deck to the field.]

"CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UP! SHOW NO MERCY CHAAAAZZ!" The North Academy students chanted, screaming and cheering as Chazz brought out the new monster.

"And we're not done, next I summon out, Horus the Black Flame Dragon, LV 4!"

From the field another monster, a metallic looking 'bird' but no less a dragon roared as it flared its wings and stared down Joseph's two Dragonmaids with its fearsome look.

"Be careful Joseph!" Bastion yelled out, but it was no good, the crowd was cheering too loudly to be heard.

"Like my new monster, well its time for an upgrade, I play the magic card Level Up, this lets me level up one of my monsters if I send them to the grave, so I'm sending Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 4, and summoning out Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6!"

Horus was enveloped in flames momentarily, before it flung it wings out and took to the air, flapping menacingly as it prepared to assault his monsters from the sky with it's awesome might.

[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2300 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Horus the Black Flamed Dragon LV 6 is unaffected by spell effects. Also, if this card successfully destroys a monster by battle this turn, you can send this face up card to the grave and special summon Horus the Black Flamed Dragon LV 8 from your hand or deck during the end phase.]

"That is not good…"

"You're right, it's not good, cause now I activate my magic card's effect, I'm going to use its second effect, allowing me to bring an Armed Dragon with a lower level or equal to the one I targeted from my grave to my hand, and I'm adding back Armed Dragon LV 3. Now comes the fun part… by discard this card, I can destroy all your monsters face up on the field with equal or fewer attack points, so since Armed Dragon LV 3 has 1200 Atk, your maid goes Bye Bye! Go, shrapnel blast"

Armed Dragon LV 5 roared and released a barrage of spike missiles from its back that flew toward Kitchen, who stared in shock as she was the target, and then moments later was obliterated from the field in an explosion of smoke and flame.

"No, Kitchen!"

"I'm not done yet, next I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw 2 cards!"

Chazz drew and smirked even more. [Summon Limit, Forbidden Chalice]

"I activate my magic card, Forbidden Chalice, this lets me target a monster on the field and give it an attack boost and defense boost, here you go Laundry, take a drink!"

Laundry looked nervous as a golden chalice was presented to her, but she accepted it and took a drink, glowing as her wings grew longer, her tail became fluffier, and even her horns grew larger.

"Oh no, not that card!" Zane said suddenly.

[Laundry Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 900 Atk / 2000 Def]

'Heeeeey, that tasted nice! Can I have another?' Laundry said happily.

"And you're giving her a boost 'why'?" He asked.

"What's the matter, can't a guy help another guy out once in a while, well since you don't like it, I'll just attack, with Armed Dragon LV 5, GO!"

Armed Dragon roared as it prepared to assault.

"I activate Laundry Dragonmaid's effect, transform girl into Nudyarl!"

Laundry nodded and tried to activate her effect, but suddenly her body glowed, and she felt herself freeze up, almost looking paralyzed. In confusion she looked at herself before glancing back at Joseph in fear.

'Master, I can't transform, I don't understand it!'

"What's going on, why can't my maid transform?"

"Oh, didn't I mention it, you see, Forbidden Chalice has a side effect, the monster that drinks it gets a 400 attack and defense boost, but it's effects are 'negated' during the turn it receives the boost. You didn't think I would come here without doing some research did you, now take out his maid!"

'Eyaaaaah!' Laundry screamed in panic as she was annihilated by the dragon's might, leaving Joseph all but defenseless.

"Now its Horus the Black Flame Dragon's turn, go Horus, burn him with Incinerating Phoenix Flame!"

Horus the Black Dragon roared before unleashing a torrential flame that incinerated his life points, causing him to flinch and groan as even though it was only a hologram, he sure as heck reacted to it as if he were being burned alive.

[Chazz Princeton - 3000 / Joseph Takara - 1600]

In the stands everyone was either cheering or gasping as this was very unexpected, Joseph had never been so outmaneuvered or outplayed before to their knowledge.

"IT'S OKAY, YOU CAN STILL COME BACK FROM THAT!" Chancellor Shepard screamed fearfully. "We're all behind you Joseph, get back up, JOSEPH IT UP!"

Unfortunately, the North Academy students were all booing him down and telling him to shut up by drowning his words with, "CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UP, SHOW HIM NO MERCY CHAZZ!"

"I activate my face down card, Numinous Healer! I lost life points, so I gain back a thousand!"

His face down flipped over, and he gained back the life points he said he would.

[Chazz Princeton - 3000 / Joseph Takara - 2600]

"Heh, nice, but my fellow students don't want me to show you mercy, so I'm not going to, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to blow your other card away!"

Chazz's magic card appeared, and it destroyed the face down Joseph had left, Dragon's Rage.

"Oh, that felt so good, remember that card, you used it to beat me last time, but this time you don't got it! Next, I play a card face down." Chazz mocked him. "And now that it's the end phase, please welcome me everyone as we take this duel to the next level, a HIGHER level! Since Armed Dragon LV 5 successfully destroyed a monster in battle, I can send it to the grave, to bring out the one and only… ARMED DRAGON LVL 7!"

The field exploded in a blaze of light and flame as the armed dragon was enveloped before being replaced by an even 'BIGGER' dragon, with more armor, more spikes, more serrated claws and shrapnel disks than it seemed to need. It roared its power at being summoned and the North Academy students erupted in another round of 'chazzing it up'.

"CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UP, CHAZZ IT UUUUUP!"

[Armed Dragon LV 7, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2800 Atk / 1000 Def]

All Joseph could do was watch the monster that Chazz summoned roar at him, while Chazz himself simply smiled as he saw his opponent trying to figure out how to duel his way out of this paper bag that he'd put him in.

'I've been waiting for this moment Joseph, now let's see what you can do. I didn't come all this way just to wipe you out this fast, I know you aren't done yet.' Chazz thought as he felt confident with his two monsters on the field. "Alright Joseph, it's your turn… have fun."

Joseph took a deep calming breath, before looking at his deck and drawing his card.

[Dragonmaid Send Off]

I play Nurse Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

From the field a pastel pillar of flame rose up and Nurse appeared in attack mode, looking worried as she saw the opposition arrayed against her.

'Uhm, what would you like me to do master?' She asked nervously.

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

"Nice monster Joseph, but that was something I was hoping you'd do; I activate my face down, SUMMON LIMIT!" Chazz declared, and his face down flipped up to reveal a trap card that Joseph instantly knew spelled 'doom' for his deck.

"Urgh…" He moaned.

"That's right, Summon Limit, once this trap is activated, neither of us can summon more than 2 monsters per turn, I know how your monsters work Joseph, all that special summoning, from the grave the hand, but now you only get to do it 'twice', and you just used one, make the 'most' of your next summon Joseph."

In the stands Joseph's friends were looking worried with each move Chazz made, this was a completely different Chazz than who they remembered.

"When did Chazz get such a pair of powerful monsters?" Bastion asked.

"Forget that, where did he get such cards like Summon Limit and Forbidden Chalice?" Alexis asked.

"This is not going well for Joseph, from this point onward until he can get rid of that trap card, his summoning abilities are limited to two per turn, that means unless he has only '1' Dragonmaid on the field, the moment his maids transform they're stuck until his 'next' turn." Zane said.

"How is he going to defeat to Chazz when his monsters are trapped, Joseph needs to special summon a maid this turn with Nurse's effect?" Syrus asked.

"Not really, their effects aren't required, he can avoid special summoning a maid with Nurse." Alexis explained. "But Joseph has to make this next summon count, he only gets 2, and he just used one on Nurse."

"Come on Joseph, you can get back in this game!" Chumley cheered. "Take him doooown!"

On the other side of the arena however, Chazz's brothers were talking a different tune.

"What is that idiot thinking, those aren't the cards we gave him to use!" Jagger snarled.

"What, those aren't?" Slade growled. "That fool better not be trying to screw this up, we spent a lot of money on this event, he BETTER win!"

"So far he is, and if he wins fine, but I just hope he doesn't win 'too' fast."

"Huh?"

"The longer this takes, the more we make on commercial ad revenue."

At that they both smiled and began laughing, enjoying the fool's plight on the dueling field.

Joseph however was busy focusing on his possible moves, he had planned to use Nurse to bring Kitchen back, have her effect trigger to bring Ernus to the grave after drawing her, and then going into a double assault to blow up both Armed Dragon and Horus the Black Flame Dragon. Now however, because of that Summon Limit, his plans were all thrown out of the window. He already knew that 'that' one card was just one of many that he might have had to deal with when he was studying, but now he has to deal with it without any way to get rid of it.

"Well, if I can't deal with it now, I'll work with it, don't bring any maids back this turn Nurse, instead I initiate the battle phase and have Nurse transform!"

Nurse nodded as she glowed, grew and emerged into the form of Dragonmaid Nudyarl, she roared in power as she prepared to do battle against Chazz's monsters.

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

"Alright Nudyarl, attack Horus with your pastel draconic breath!"

Nudyarl nodded as Horus flapped its wings and charged Nudyarl, attempting to counterattack, but her flaming breath was undeniable, enveloping the metal bird with its fiery wrath. Horus 'melted' in the flame, screeching in agony before exploding, causing Chazz 300 points of damage.

[Chazz Princeton - 2700 / Joseph Takara - 2600]

Chazz however smirked, as that was Joseph's best move that turn. "Was that supposed to scare me, cause I'm not Joseph!"

"I play one card face down, and end my turn, your move Chazz." Joseph said as he played Send Off down.

Tinkech appeared next to him in spirit form looking worried. 'Master, how are we going to win if we can't summon ourselves out? Nudyarl can't possibly defeat Chazz all by herself.'

"I'll figure something out, for now at least we're even."

"Good luck with that, now let's see what I can do." Chazz declared as he drew his next card. [Monster Reborn]

"Heh, sweet, first up I activate my magic card, so I'll target Armed Dragon LV 7, and activate it's effect to give him attack points equal to his level times 100, guess what level he is Joseph, next I'll activate the magic card Monster Reborn, to bring back Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6, RIIIIIISE!"

[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2300 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Armed Dragon LV 7 2800 Atk / 1000 Def – 3500 Atk / 1000 Def]

Once more Horus appeared on the field with the full furry of its power fully intact, and Armed Dragon roared with power as it prepared to attack.

"Next, I'll initiate the battle phase! Go Armed Dragon, Serrated Talon Terror!"

"Roaaaaawr!"

Armed Dragon roared and brought its claws down on Nudyarl, red draconic energy bursting from the tips of its talons as it prepared to bring down the Dragon protecting him from harm.

But just before the attack could connect, Nudyarl vanished, and suddenly a stream of Pastel draconic energy flowed from the field, pushing back Armed Dragon's attack, keeping it from connecting. The source was Nurse Dragonmaid, straining to keep her attacker at bay and protect her master.

'Hnnnnnnnnnnnnng!' She moaned as the attack was barely held back.

"What the?" Chazz asked before he saw the face up card.

[Dragonmaid Send Off]

"Of course, you used that card's effect to send Nudyarl back and bring out Nurse, protecting her from my card's attack."

"That's right, now its Nurse's turn to activate her effect, do your thing nurse and bring Kitchen to my field."

Nurse nodded once the attack finally ended, then she pointed at the spot next to her, and a crimson draconic pillar of flame rose to allow Kitchen to come back, frowning as she knelt crouched in defense mode.

'Time to spice things up master!' Kitchen declared.

"Alright, that was my second summon, so now Kitchen activate your effect, bring Chamber Dragonmaid to my hand now!"

She nodded and turned to blast his duel disk with energy, extracting Chamber Dragonmaid from his deck and allowing him to add her to his hand.

"Now I discard a Dragonmaid from my hand to the grave due to her effect, so I send Nudyarl to my grave!"

Chazz took a deep breath as he steadied himself, that was annoying, but it wasn't over yet. He knew this was going to happen, he knew that Joseph's dragons were going to be annoying to take down, even with Summon Limit, they just were not going down.

"Good move, but I'm not done yet, you brought out Kitchen, but you left her woefully exposed, and guess what, Horus is on the field now, Horus time to wipe his monster out, attack Kitchen Dragonmaid with Gale Flame Winds!"

Horus screeched as it flapped its wings and sent waves of flames that traveled in the form of waves, Kitchen shielded herself but was destroyed regardless of her attempt.

"Now then, because it's the end of the turn, I'm going to activate Horus the Black Flamed Dragon's special ability, since it successfully destroyed a monster in battle, I can send it to the grave and special summon from my hand or deck… guess who?" Chazz yelled as Horus glowed in powerful flames of energy. "Horus, The Black Flamed Dragon LV 8, RISE TO MY FIELD!"

There was a moment before the flame enveloping Horus exploded revealing the strongest form of that monster, it screeched as it towered above Nurse who cowered in fear while still shielding Joseph from harm.

[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 1800 Def]

"CHAZZ IT UP!"

"CHAZZ IT UP!"

"CHAZZ. IT. UUUUUUUUUUUP!"

[Horus the Black Famed Dragon LV 8, is a fire attribute dragon type monster, that while is face up on your field, can negate the effect of one magic card your opponent attempts to play, and destroy it, once per turn.]

'Masteeeeeeeer…' Nurse moaned fearfully.

He took a deep breath again as he was not sure how he was going to turn this duel around, but he wasn't out of it just yet as he drew his next card. [Dragonmaid Welcome]

'Alright Joseph let's look at what we got to work with, Chazz has two 'giant' dragons on the field, both with over 3000 attack and he has a trap that limits your ability to summon more than 2 monsters per turn. You have, a Nurse Dragonmaid who will at least keep you safe 'this' turn, but the protection she gets from Send Off ends this turn as well. I also have Welcome and now Chamber in my hand, so I can make some plays, but I have to think hard because my next move may be my last. These Level Monsters are tough to get around with their effects also, but… nothing I haven't faced before.'

"Alriiiiight we're on commercial break, so if you two could lay down the intensity of the duel, that'd be great!" One of the camera people called out. "Don't want to miss out on the excitement for all of the fans watching around the world!"

He ignored them as he was still trying to figure out how to deal with Chazz's field at the moment.

"So, Chazz since we have a moment to spare, mind if I ask you a question?" He called out.

"Yea what do you want?" He called back.

"Where did you get those cards, those cards are so awesome, being able to upgrade and their effects, you really came prepared today!"

"Well of course I did, you think I was going to let you beat me again, for the third time in a row?" Chazz yelled back fiercely. "I got these cards from North Academy, they entrusted me with their top cards, I 'knew' when I was coming here that I'd need the best cards I could find to take you down."

'Oh, that's so nice of you to say boss.'

In surprise Joseph saw this yellow 'creature', with two eyes on tendril-like stalks float out from behind Chazz, wearing red underpants with white polka dots.

'I always knew you thought I was the best!'

"Grrr I meant the best BESIDES YOU!" He growled just loudly enough that only Joseph could hear him, swatting him away and trying to smack him with his hand. "Get lost you stupid little gremlin!"

"Huh… wait, that kinda…" Joseph whispered as Nudyarl floated next to him now.

'Is that an Ojama, yech… that is something I do 'not' want to see anywhere near my card master.' She said with slight disgust.

'Huh… hey boss, who's the cutie you're fighting over there, can you introduce me to her?'

'CUTIE? Listen here you little yellow potato, nobody is allowed to call me 'Cutie' except my master!' She snapped angrily. 'And stay away from my master, or else I'll roast you on a spit!'

"Uh… Chazz, you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Geh, no, no I don't see anything! Can we go back to the duel already?"

"Sure but… Chazz, can I ask you something else?"

"What is it now?"

"Listen Chazz… I heard you talking to yourself earlier, before the duel." He said, and instantly Chazz's whole attitude changed. "You need to let off on the 'pressure' that you're putting yourself on. This may be an important duel, for the both of us, but its still just a duel at the end of the day. What happens here isn't so important that it's going to affect our whole li-"

"What do you know about this duel?!" Chazz snapped. "You don't have ANYTHING at risk here, you got nothing, zero, zilch, nada, you can lose and nothing matters. And do you know why, because you don't have a sense of duty, you don't have something pushing you to make you better, to fight for, a reason to 'duel'."

"But I 'do'…" He whispered, "I have to win this for my brothers, for the plan… I have to prove myself; I have to prove that I'm a Princeton, that I'm the best… that…"

'Boss, you're really stressing yourself out, you need to relax!' His 'friend' said worriedly.

"Will you just go awaaaay!" Chazz screamed, "Alright enough stalling Joseph, make your move already!"

Joseph just sighed as he nodded and took Chamber from his hand and played her on the field. "I summon out Chamber Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

From the field a black pillar of draconic flame rose as Chamber Dragonmaid appeared on the field, dissipating the flames and swirling her feather duster with a smirk.

'Well now, this is an interesting reception, such a fearsome looking dragon, I hope you don't expect me to entertain him for you master~. But if you ask, I'm sure I can do 'something' to keep its attention away from you~!' She slyly said.

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

"Alright, now that Chamber's on the field, I activate her effect, when she's summoned out, once a turn I can call upon her powers to bring a Dragonmaid spell or trap from my deck to my hand, Chamber, bring out the Dragonmaid Changeover card for me!"

'Don't you love having a maid like 'me' all to yourself?' She giggled as she, without even turning around to aim, pointed her finger over her shoulder to blast his duel disk with her signature energy.

[Dragonmaid Changeover]

'Alright, I need to make every move from here on count, that was one summon, now for my second.' He thought. "Now I'll PLAY, Dragonmaid Changeover, to fuse my two Dragonmaids on the field."

On the field the magic card appeared, and both Nurse and Chamber closed their eyes as they prepared to fuse and bring out the House Dragonmaid.

"I don't think so!" Chazz declared as his Horus began glowing. "My Horus the Black Flame Dragon has a special ability, at level 8, Horus can negate one magic card you attempt to activate, and not only is it negated its also destroyed, sorry but I'm not letting you bring out that maid of yours without a fight!"

From Horus' eyes a pair of black flaming energy beams appeared and blasted the Dragonmaid Changeover card, burning two holes into it and incinerating it from the field in its dark flames.

Joseph however 'smirked'. "Nice move, but House isn't going to be denied so easily Chazz!"

"Huh?"

Joseph revealed the last card in his hand, Dragonmaid Welcome. "I play the continuous spell Dragonmaid Welcome; you remember this card don't you?" He declared. "Once I play it, I get some nifty effects, first off, all of my monsters get a hundred-point boost to their attack and defense for each Dragonmaid on the field, but the second benefit is what I love the most, if I have 2 Dragonmaids on the field, I can call back 'another' Dragonmaid card from my grave and add it to my hand. Ladies, do your thing and give me Dragonmaid Tinckeh!"

Both Nurse and Chamber nodded, turned and pointed at his duel disk, blasting it with their combined draconic energy, extracting his desired card to his hand.

"Now then, I activate my Dragonmaid Changeover card's effect, since you destroyed it and sent it to the graveyard, I can call upon my maids and have one of them come to my hand, and if I do, Changeover is added to my hand from the grave. So, Changeover, do your thing girl!"

Chamber nodded and humbly bowed, vanishing from the field in a cascade of lights as Changeover was added to his hand.

"Now then, I activate the effect of Dragonmaid Changeover, I fuse the Nurse Dragonmaid and the Chamber Dragonmaid on my field, to bring out the one and only, House Dragonmaid!" He declared as he played the magic card.

Nurse closed her eyes as a massive pillar of black, crimson and white draconic fire erupted to encompass her. The visage of a terrifying dragon emerged and roared to the stadium as Duel Academy's students cheered and began waving their banners as Joseph's signature monster prepared to hit the field.

House spread her arms and dissipated the flames as she made her appearance, her wings folded up, her hands clasped before her, and she stared before her at Chazz's monsters with a humble smile, unafraid of the opposition and awaiting her master's orders.

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

"Ahaaaaaa, now the tables are turned 'old friend', come on Joseph get him boy!" Shepard screamed loudly above the cheering students.

"I initiate the battle phase Chazz, I have House Dragonmaid attack your monster with draconic maid flame!" He declared, and House nodded as she began gathering draconic fire in the palm of her hands. "Oh, and before I forget, I activate Tinkech's effect, since she's in my hand, by discarding her, I can grant a Dragonmaid on my field 2000 extra attack points during this turn! And don't forget, Welcome's on the field, so she gets extra points."

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 3100 Atk / 2100 Def – 5100 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Gryaaaaaah…" Chazz yelled as House prepared to launch her assault.

"House Dragonmaid attack Armed Dragon LV 7 now!"

She nodded and launched her assault, eviscerating Armed Dragon in a powerful blast of draconic fire and taking a huge chunk out of Chazz's life point.

[Chazz Princeton - 1100 / Joseph Takara - 2600]

Chazz fell backward as House replaced her hands back to her front and the turn began to end, and with it her points returned to normal.

[House Dragonmaid 5100 Atk / 2100 Def – 3100 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Whatya think of that now Foster, looks like 'my' school is once again in the driver's seat, and your boy's down for the count!" Shepard cackled eagerly.

"Grrr NO HE HASN'T, come on Chazz get back up!" Foster yelled out.

"GET BACK UP. GET BACK UP. CHAZZ GET UP!" The North Academy students began chanting now in unison as Chazz slowly rose to his feet.

Over with his brothers however, they were 'fuming' at that turn.

"What is that idiot 'thinking?" Jagger yelled.

"We give you the best cards in the world and you don't even 'use' them?" Slade yelled down at Chazz, something that did not escape Joseph's ears despite all of the chanting and yelling, cheering and commotion caused by his Dragonmaid's assault.

He glanced over at those two 'brothers' of his, and suddenly things were starting to make just a bit more sense, but he had other things to focus on.

With his friends though, the attitude had changed.

"Wait, I don't get it, why didn't Joseph use his Dragonmaid to hit Horus, he would have dealt way more damage to Chazz?" Syrus asked.

"Because he had to get rid of the bigger threat, and that was Armed Dragon LV 7. You see Syrus, Joseph knows just based on past events, that Chazz can keep powering up that dragon thanks to his spell card's effect, and with the Armed Dragon's ability to destroy monsters just by discarding a monster with a higher attack, all Chazz had to do was wait until he had one strong enough and then House would be gone. Not only that, but thanks to his spell's effect, House is now strong enough to not be threatened by Horus, who's effect, while difficult to deal with, isn't the immediate threat." Bastion said expertly, glad to see Joseph knew how to prioritize his threats in a pinch.

"If he had destroyed Horus, Chazz would have lost 2100 points, but he'd still live on 600, and then next turn Chazz could have increased Armed Dragon's attack by another 700, taking it from the 3500 it sat at 'after' it used the effect before, to 4200, at that level only House's ability could hope to save him, and even 'then', he would only get '1' shot and Chazz won't give him that same shot again, because the card can be sacrificed to protect Armed Dragon from card effect destruction." Alexis said. "Plus, he made the right call targeting the Armed Dragon, as dangerous as Horus is… that's as strong as its going to get, level 8 is the highest Horus goes."

"Wait, you mean Armed Dragon can go even 'higher'?" Chumley asked nervously.

"That's right, the only reason Chazz 'didn't' upgrade it, is because he needed the card in his hand, or a Level Up card, neither of which he has, at the moment, but next turn if he drew it… well, let's just say it's better that he 'doesn't' give Chazz the chance to play it." Zane said.

Chazz slowly rose to his feet, shaken but not beaten, losing Armed Dragon was a huge setback, but he's come back from worse, he isn't going to give up yet, he can't give up, he's not going to give up. "That's right… I came to win… and it's my… turn!" He hollered as he drew. [Level Up!]

"Gerrg… I set one card face down and end my turn!" He yelled angrily.

"Alright." Joseph declared as he drew his next card. [Dragonmaid Hospitality]

"I play the magic of Dragonmaid Hospitality, now I can special summon a Dragonmaid from my hand or grave to the field in defense mode, and then send another Dragonmaid with the same attribute but different level to the grave. I choose Nurse Dragonmaid and Dragonmaid Ernus!"

The magic card appeared on the field, but suddenly Horus' eyes began to glow once more.

"Have you forgotten; you can't activate a magic card in the presence of my Horus the Black Flame Dragon! Once per turn, he can negate a magic card's effect and destroy it!" Chazz yelled. "GO HORUS!"

Horus roared and blasted his Hospitality card, negating its effects and then destroying it.

"Ugh… so much for that plan, but I still have House Dragonmaid, and I still have Dragonmaid Welcome on the field." He declared. "I enter the battle phase, now House Dragonmaid attack Horus the Black Flame Dragon!"

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 3100 Atk / 2100 Def]

House formed a ball of draconic flame in the palm of her hand and then launched it at Horus, who counter attacked, but since the dragon was not strong enough to survive, it was destroyed in battle, further decreasing Chazz's life points.

[Chazz Princeton - 1000 / Joseph Takara - 2600]

"Grrrrg, it aint over yet, you hear me?!" Chazz yelled as he drew again. [Card of Demise], "I play a card face down, and then I activate Card of demise, so now I draw until I have five cards, and in five turns I lose my entire hand."

He drew his five cards and grunted. [Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 3, Swords of Concealing Light, Ojama Yellow, Twin Twister, Negate Attack]

"Ugh not 'you'!" He complained.

'Hi boss, sorry it took so long for me to arrive, but here I am, so you want me to do something for ya?'

"Yea, get LOST!" He screamed as he took another card. "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 3 in attack mode!"

Horus emerged from its card as it was played, roaring onto the field and ruffling its Wings against House Dragonmaid.

[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 4, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 1600 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Next, I play the magic card, Swords of Concealing LIGHT!" He yelled as he played the magic card.

From the field a new card emerged, one with the image of a ghostly skull hovering above three swords of spectral light, which then sent out several black swords of light wrapped in ethereal green energy. Hundreds of them swarmed his side of the field and then slashed down, stabbing into the ground and covering him in their light. Moments after House Dragonmaid's card emerged from the field and then began to 'cover' her.

She looked surprised as it fell over, causing her to vanish as her monster card was switched into face down defense mode.

"What is with 'everyone' having some kind of 'swords of light' card in their deck?" He muttered as Tinkech floated next to him.

'Boss is 'not' going to be happy about that.' Tinkech muttered. 'She hates it when she's flipped face down.'

"Sorry Joseph, actually I'm not sorry, but when this card is played, this puts all of your monsters currently on the field into face down defense mode. And until my second standby phase, any monster you summon can't change its battle position. Now I activate my magic card Level Up!, you know what it does, it lets me level up one of my level monsters to the next level, so Horus LV 4 becomes Horus LV 6. So come forth, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6!"

Horus was enveloped in ethereal black flames, before it emerged as its LV 6 form.

[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2300 Atk / 1600 Def]

"CHAZZ IT UP. CHAZZ IT UP. CHAZ IT UP!"

"BRING THE PAIN CHAZZ!"

"Now then I activate Twin Twister, this allows me to discard one card and then destroy up to '2' cards on the field, so I send Ojama Yellow and choose to destroy my Summon Limit, and your Dragonmaid Welcome!"

'No boss nooooooo!' Ojama Yellow screamed as he was thrown to the grave without any hesitation on Chazz's part.

A pair of tornados appeared on the field and struck both his magic card and Chazz's trap card.

"Ugh… that is 'bad'." He muttered, knowing what Horus' effect was and knowing he can't stop it.

"That's right, because since your maid is in defense mode, she can't stop this attack, attack Horus, wipe out his monster!"

Horus roared in defiance against Joseph before blasting his face down maid with the power of its black flames from its mouth. House flipped up and grimaced as she was in defense mode, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself from being destroyed!

Once more Joseph was alone with only 'one' draw to turn things around.

"It's okay, you can still come back Joseph!" Shepard screamed in fear. "Come on Duel Academy students, show him we have his back, JOSEPH IT UP!"

"BOOOOOO!"

"Before I finish, I play the Dark Door, now neither of us can attack with more than one monster per turn. Now… you know what happens now Joseph, it's the end of my turn, and since Horus destroyed a monster… he levels up to his final form, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8 RIIIIIIISE!"

[Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 1800 Def]

Once again, a new monster emerged for Chazz, and Joseph was beginning to sweat. He was free to summon as he used to, but he had to be careful about his next draw.

Up in the stands with his friends they were looking worried for him. "Joseph is backed into a corner guys." Alexis said. "I don't know how much more he can endure with how much Chazz is pushing him."

"That Horus' effect is extremely hard to get around, being able to negate any magic card Joseph plays means Joseph's next draw will determine if he wins or loses this duel." Zane said. "If he draws a magic card, it's over, if it's a trap then he's still in danger unless its Negate Attack or Mirror Force, since most of his traps rely on him having a Dragonmaid on the field, and the other ones need him to lose life points first but still have some left over to activate."

"Come on Joseph!" Syrus yelled.

"Yea hang in there buddy, we're right behind you!" Chumley cheered.

Down on the field Joseph drew his next card and breathed a sigh of relief. [Masked Dragon]

"I play a monster face down in defense mode, and that ends my turn."

Chazz frowned as he drew his next card, this duel was getting harder the longer it went on, all of his best cards were all used, he was all but running on steam. Still, he had him where he wanted him, he just had to keep the pressure on. He glanced over at his brothers and took a deep steadying breath. "Come on… just win this, win this and prove them… do your part, do your part Chazz, you can still win this!"

He glanced at his card and frowned. [Solemn Judgement – 1 turn passed]

"Perfect! Well Joseph it's been 2 turns so my spell card is gone. Now I play one card face down, then I enter the battle phase and attack your monster! GO HORUS!"

Horus roared and blasted his face down monster, which flipped up to be revealed as Masked Dragon. It cowered at the attack and was incinerated for its trouble.

"Thanks Chazz, you destroyed Masked Dragon and now because of that, its effect activates, allowing me to summon out Parlor Dragonmaid from my deck to my field, and I summon her into defense mode!"

Her card was extracted, and she appeared on the field after he played her card. Her arms were crossed, and she stared defiantly at the opposing monster before her.

'This is not going to be easy master, but we aren't ready to quit on you yet, we're with you to the end!' Parlor declared proudly.

[Parlor Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"You know her effect, Parlor now sends a Dragonmaid card to the grave, so I send Dragonmaid Tidying to the grave!"

Parlor nodded, turned and blast his deck with her power to draw the card he desired, and then he took it to send to the graveyard.

"Ugh… well that's it for my turn, I play one card face down and end my turn." Chazz complained. "Your turn."

Joseph nodded as he drew his next card. [Return of the Dragon Lords]

"Hmm, I activate the Dragonmaid Tidying, this let's me special summon a dragonmaid from my grave or hand into defense, but she goes back to my hand at the end of the turn. I choose Nurse Dragonmaid, and she'll activate her effect to bring Chamber Dragonmaid to the field in defense mode too!"

Next to Parlor two pillars of draconic flame erupted, one pink and one black, both Nurse and Chamber appeared in kneeling positions and arms crossed before them.

'It's so nice not being restricted again, I await your command my master~!' Chamber said warmly.

'I still don't have 'my' dragon form Master, just saying…' Nurse said nervously.

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

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

"Grreg…" Chazz muttered. "I think I made a mistake… too late now."

"Alright Chamber, I activate your effect, and ask you to bring out my 'second' Dragonmaid Welcome card."

'Oh master, such a simple task… but if that is your desire, who am I deny it~?' Chamber said slyly as she pointed her hand over her shoulder and blindly shot his duel disk, extracting the card for him.

"Now I 'play' Return of the Dragon Lords!" He declared.

The moment the card appeared, Chazz looked up at Horus, and time seemed to slow down for him as he quickly thought about his strategy that turn.

'If I let him activate that card, He'll summon another Dragon, but if I don't, I can't use Horus' effect to destroy his Welcome Card. Ugh, this turn is going to hurt!' He thought.

"Now I summon to the field, Dragonmaid Nudyarl."

Nudyarl erupted onto the field in her pillar of Azure flame, roaring as she smiled at seeing the numbers now in her master's favor.

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

"Now I activate the magic card, Dragonmaid Welcome!"

He played the magic card, and Chazz glared.

"I activate my monster's effect, sorry but you're not getting around me so easily! Do your thing Horus!"

Horus' eyes glowed and blasted his magic card's effect, burning holes into it and causing it to erupt into black flames.

"Ugh, great… well I still have my monster's effects, GO! Parlor into Tinkech, Chamber into House! Sorry Nurse, but you're going to have to endure for now."

All of his maids nodded and created spiral flames, allowing him to special summon Dragonmaid Tinkech and House Dragonmaid to the field in face up attack mode.

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

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

'Once again… stuck on the field in defense mode with no dragon form…' Nurse moaned sadly while Tinkech and Nudyarl glanced at her apologetically.

"Now then,

"Now then I have House Dragonmaid attack your monster!"

House leapt high and spread her wings as she gathered energy to attack.

"I activate Negate Attack!"

His face down flipped over and saved his monster, but it was a close call as House nodded and landed, humbly placing her hands before her and awaiting further orders.

"I end my turn then."

Chazz nodded as he drew. [Armed Dragon LV 10 – 2 turns passed]

"Darnet, I can't do anything… I pass!"

"Looks like things are slowing down folks, we'll be back after these commercials or when the action picks up, don't turn that dial!" A cameraman said loudly.

"What are you DOING Chazz, we gave you all of those rare cards, and you are throwing this duel away!" Jagger yelled the moment the cameras were off.

"Are you 'trying' to make our family look like failures?!" Slade screamed.

Chazz tried to ignore them, but he was starting to shake, he was losing control of this duel, everything he'd gained and all of his momentum at the start was 'gone'.

"Can't lose… can't lose… mustn't lose…"

Joseph however frowned as he listened. He drew, and went wide eyed…

He looked up at the monster he had to defeat before he could play that card.

"Alright I summon out Parlor Dragonmaid in attack mode, and thanks to hereffect, once she's summoned, she sends a dragonmaid to my grave, so I choose Ernus!"

[Parlor Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

The moment Parlor appeared on the field she turned and blasted his duel disk with her signature draconic energy. Ernus was extracted and sent to the grave.

"Next, I'll use Changeover's effect to bring parlor back to my hand, bringing her to my hand and allowing it to come to my hand now. Now I enter the battle phase, Nurse your turn has come girl, go into Ernus!"

Chazz grimaced as he knew what was coming.

"Now that a Dragon returned to my hand, House's effect activates. Go house, destroy his monster with your effect!"

"I activate Solemn Judgement, I pay half my points and negate your effect, and destroy your monster!"

Just as House attempted to use her effect to blast Horus, Solemn Judgement activated, causing an old man to appear before Horus. He pointed at House with an empirical gesture of his hand and struck her with lightning, but even as House grimaced, she was shielded by the visage of a dragon.

"Nice… but you only stopped her effect, I use Return of the Dragon Lord's effect, by banishing her she is spared from destruction."

The effect ended, and House remained while chazz lost half of his points.

[Chazz Princeton - 500 / Joseph Takara - 2600]

"Now House, attack Horus with your draconic maid flame!"

Both House and Horus launched their attacks, and both were destroyed in battle as their attacks were even. Chazz was sweating heavily as he had no more plays left.

"Well, that was my only attack, I end the battle phase, I'll leave my Dragonmaids in as they are for now. You're move."

Chazz nodded as he looked at his deck and drew. [Premature Burial – 3 turns passed]

"Noooo… I need life points, if I only had a few more life points… just a 'few' more life points is all I need!" He moaned to himself, but Joseph heard him, in fact he was the only one who heard him. "I… I play one card face down and end my turn, do your worst I'm prepared!"

Joseph nodded as he drew his next card, [Dragonmaid Send Off]

He thought about his next play and then decided it was time to make his move. "Hey Chazz, before I take my turn, I want to ask you something again."

"What is it now…" Chazz complained, but there was suppressed anger and desperation in his voice.

"Why are you dueling me here today?"

As one his Dragonmaids all glanced back at him with their eyes, but they silently nodded without really showing it, as they knew what he was planning.

"What?"

"Why are you dueling me here today, because frankly I am not sure why you're dueling me today. You aren't dueling for North Academy that much is obvious, you aren't dueling for Foster, you aren't dueling for yourself… you're just here because someone 'wanted' you to be here is what I'm getting. So, tell me why you are here to duel me?"

At that Chazz was 'confused', why the heck was Joseph asking him 'why' he was dueling him.

"Is there a point to that question?"

"Yea, because I remember the Chazz 'I' dueled back when I could have become an Ra Yellow, and he did 'not' act like the duelist I'm dueling now." He declared. "The duelist I dueled, the Chazz I remember, never panicked or acted shook up when things started to slip out of his control. He took on the challenge without hesitation, confident that he'd find a way to win, that he was the best, and more importantly nobody told him what to do or told him what he wasn't. But you, you look like someone is 'pressuring' you to win when you're already doing your best, but apparently, it's not for 'them'."

"Shut it, my brothers… they are counting on me to win this!" Chazz countered.

"Counting on you to win, or 'demanding' you win?" Joseph replied. "What happens if you lose, does the end of the world happen, does your school shut down, do you lose everything you own? What happens to you Chazz if you lose this 'one' duel… a duel mind you that is taking place while we are 'still in school'."

At that Chazz stopped as he realized… he had a point. It was only 'one' duel, there'd be more duels, more chances to prove himself the best 'after' school. So, what if he 'did' lose it, it was a school duel, it didn't matter in the long run…

"And no offense Chazz, but stop listening to your brothers, they don't matter, they aren't dueling, they aren't cheering you on, they aren't encouraging you to win despite the odds, they just want you to win and that's it. They just want you to win, nothing more and less." Joseph said as he held his card. "I however… I have friends hoping I'll win, cheering me on to win, and even if I lose I 'know' they'll still be my friends and they'll 'still' be celebrating with me for coming out here to duel. What are your brothers doing for you in 'this' match?"

Chazz glanced around the room and sure enough, he saw Alexis, Chumley, Syrus, Zane, Bastion, all of them smiling and cheering him on, saying things like "Come on Joseph, you got this!", "Take him down!"

He looked up and saw 2 of his 'sisters', the one with the green hair and platinum blonde hair, "Let's Go Joseph, Let's Go Joseph!"

But his brothers, they were sneering and glaring at him… looking at him like…

"What are you waiting for Chazz, finish him off and crush him!" Jagger yelled.

"Prove you're a Princeton and kick him to the curb!" Slade hollered.

He looked back to Joseph who had an understanding look in his eyes, and for a moment it was like… something 'connected' between them. Joseph had nobody in terms of family cheering him on here, but he still had his 'family', his adopted sisters who were still cheering him on, his friends who were still there rooting for him. Him, sure he had North Academy but…

"Chazz, what did your brothers do for you? Did they spend days and nights helping you prepare for this duel; did they practice with you over and over so you'd be ready for anything. Did they give you advice or even offer you their own cards to use in 'your' deck?"

Chazz felt the world fade away around him again.

'Joseph makes a point… what 'HAVE' those two ever done for me, sure I got into Duel Academy but I got in on my own terms. Sure, it was part of the plan, but I never wanted any part of 'their' plan! I wanted to be the best, but for ME, not them, and certainly not because they wanted me to be the best. They didn't help me study day and night at Duel Academy, they didn't help me research Joseph's cards, they didn't practice with me… they tried to give me their briefcase filled with rare cards but a REAL duelist wins using the cards 'he' chooses, not what others pick for him and tell him to use just because they're the rarest or the strongest.'

He looked again at Joseph, and again, it was like something… connected between them.

For all of his fame and renown his Dragonmaid cards had, how rare they are, how strong they are… he's the one making them look that way. The cards don't make the duelist, the duelists make the cards, and right now all that mattered in this duel was him and Joseph, not some stupid plan his brothers had for world domination. This was about him, Joseph, and the cards they both had!

"Chazz Princeton doesn't let anyone tell him what to do, you want a duel Joseph, you got yourself a duel!" He yelled at him.

Joseph smirked as he knew what he had to do now.

"Alright Chazz, I'm going to give you a hand, a handshake to be precise!" Joseph declared as he played his magic card. "I play the magic card, Yu-Jo Friendship!"

On the field a magic card appeared, the card that Yugi Moto himself gave him after defeating his deck days ago.

[Yu-Jo Friendship, is a magic card where once played, you offer your opponent a handshake, and if they accept, both players life points are added together and then they gain equal life points to the points collected and then divided between them evenly. If you have the card, Unity in your hand, you can reveal it, and your opponent must accept the handshake]

"What the… why is Joseph using 'that' card, why would anyone use that card in an official duel?" Crowler asked in confusion. "He's going to have less life points with how low Chazz's points are compared to his."

In the stands however, Zane was smiling as he saw what Joseph was 'really' doing here. "This isn't a duel about winning or losing anymore, it's about sportsmanship and… well dare I say, 'friendship'."

"Yep, no matter what happens, this duel is ending in the next two turns I guess." Alexis agreed.

"Well, this will be interesting, Joseph is giving him a helping hand, I wonder what Chazz has planned?"

On the field Joseph smiled as he placed his card in a spare duel disk slot for holding while he walked forward, on the other side Chazz looked stoic as he began walking forward after a while.

"Why are you doing this, I don't like handouts." He demanded.

"I heard you say to yourself how you 'needed just a few more life points', and I want to see what you can do." Joseph replied as they met in the middle. "So, Chazz, as the card says, I offer you a handshake… now, will you 'take' it?"

Joseph held out his hand.

Chazz looked at the hand before looking at him. "You know, you might just be handing me the duel." He told him with a smile.

"Chazz, if I lose because of this, then I'll lose knowing I did my best and showed off everything I could do, and I'd rather lose knowing I saw everything you could do. Besides, of all the duelists I've lost to so far, I wouldn't mind losing to someone like you." He replied. "You've got game… and it's been a pleasure dueling you today."

"No…" Chazz said.

Then he pulled his arm back and smacked it into Joseph's gripping his hand and shaking it with a proud smile.

"The pleasure is mine!"

Both of them nodded, gave one final affirmative shake, and watched as their duel disks changed their life points to match the effects of the card.

[Chazz Princeton - 500 / Joseph Takara - 2600]

[Chazz Princeton - 0 / Joseph Takara - 0]

[Chazz Princeton - 1550 / Joseph Takara - 1550]

With that they gave a secondary, 'honorary' handshake before separating and returning to their corners. Joseph turned around and held up his last cards. "I play one card face down, then summon Parlor Dragonmaid one more time into attack mode. Then I activate her effect to send Lorpar to the grave. And with that I defer to you!"

Silence had reigned in the stadium as everyone just 'watched', the chanting had ended, the cheering and yelling had ended, everyone but Jagger and Slade had chosen to remain silent as they awaited the duel's outcome.

"Don't screw this up Chazz, your opponent made a big mistake, now finish him off finally!" One of them shouted, but Chazz ignored them as he drew his next, and probably 'last' card.

[Pot of Avarice – 4 turns passed]

"I play Pot of Avarice!" He declared as he played the card. "Now I send '5' monsters with different names from my grave to my deck, shuffle, and then draw '2' cards."

He sent Ojama Yellow, Armed Dragon LV 3, 7, Horus the Black Flamed Dragon 4 and 6 to the deck, shuffled it, and then drew two cards.

[Level Up!, Armed Dragon Blitz]

"I play Premature Burial!" He declared. "Now I pay 800 life points, to bring back one monster from my grave, and I pick Armed Dragon LV 5!"

[Armed Dragon LV 5, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1700 Def]

[Chazz Princeton - 750 / Joseph Takara - 1550]

For what felt like the final time, Armed Dragon rose at his master's call, pumped and ready for battle.

"Next, I play the spell card, Level Up! You don't need an explanation for this card, this is my last card, so once more, Armed Dragon LV 7 RIIIIIIIISE!"

Armed Dragon LV 7 appeared after only a few moments, and with its rise came the 'final' turn for Chazz as he prepared to make his final move. "Now then, Joseph, it's time to take this duel to the next level, the highest level I can, the STRONGEST monster in my entire deck, I tribute Armed Dragon LV 7, to summon the one and only… Armed Dragon LV 10!"

Snarling, roaring, exploding onto the field in a burst of flame and destructive power, covered in metal armor and spikes, serrated blades and reeking of destructive power, a new, and obviously 'final' form to the Armed Dragon line appeared.

[Armed Dragon LV 10, lvl 10, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

Joseph and his Dragonmaids looked up at the towering behemoth that dwarfed the previous monsters he played; it almost reached the ceiling.

"Big Dragon…" Joseph commented.

'What is it with guys and wanting their toys to be 'big'?' Parlor asked.

'Big, that thing probably rents an entire parking lot just for itself.' Nudyarl muttered.

'Lotta pointy edges…' Ernus declared.

'Uhm, should we be worried?' Tinkech asked.

"Alright Joseph, I have one final play to make, first up I activate my magic card's effect, since it's STILL on the field… I target my LV 10 Armed Dragon, and increase its attack by 1000 points, one hundred for each level!"

[Armed Dragon LV 10, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 4000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Next, I activate my Armed Dragon's special ability… by discarding 1 card from my hand… I can destroy 'ALL' of your face up monsters in one fell swoop!" Chazz yelled as he discarded Armed Dragon Blitz. "GO, SERRATED SONIC DEVASTATOR!"

"Graaaaaaaaawr!" Armed Dragon screamed as its chest exploded with sonic blades of energy that launched themselves at each of his Dragonmaids.

However, Joseph was ready…

KABOOOOOM

Chazz smiled as the entire field was covered in devastation, nothing on Joseph's side of the field could survive that. But then from the smoke… he saw... standing there with her palms aimed outward and staring at his monster with a stern expression.

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

It was over… he knew it was over, he saw the face up card as the smoke cleared more.

[Dragonmaid Send Off]

"That card saved you again… and it defeated me, once again." He sighed, before looking up and smirking. "I end my turn, that was my best move."

"And quite a move it was." Joseph said as he drew the card, but he didn't care what it was, there was only one way this duel was going to end. "I enter the battle phase, Chamber Dragonmaid, transform into House Dragonmaid.

Chamber nodded proudly as she was enveloped by her signature flame, before erupting in a final display of the House Dragonmaid's draconic energy, where she revealed herself at long last. She smiled humbly at Chazz and his monster as she awaited the command.

"I activate Dragonmaid Tinkech's effect, by discarding her from my hand, I activate her effect, granting House Dragonmaid 2000 Attack points! Go House Dragonmaid, attack and finish this duel!"

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

She prepared her attack and launched it at Armed Dragon when it was ready, Chazz's monster roared in defiance and fought back, but it was inevitable as House used her full powers and vaporized his monster. As the life point counter ticked down, Chazz breathed a sigh of relief, one matched by Joseph.

[Chazz Princeton - 0 / Joseph Takara - 1550]

As the duel ended, House Dragonmaid smiled, and bowed to Chazz, just as the holograms faded away.

There was a brief moment of silence before a round of applause erupted from the stands as every student got on their feet and began applauding the two duelists who had performed the best duel yet.

For a moment Joseph and Chazz simply stood silent before Chazz began smirking, and then began chuckling and finally 'laughing'. Moments later Joseph began laughing as well, matching his tone.

"I ALMOST HAD YOU JOSEPH!" Chazz yelled. "You have to admit, I 'had' you in the first half."

"You did… you really scared me, that 'Summon Limit' card really made things hard for me." Joseph agreed.

He smiled and walked over to Chazz and both of them shook hands once again.

However, as Joseph and Chazz were trading hands, moments later his brothers, Jagger and Slade were stomping onto the field with furious looks.

"You loser, you 'failure', you absolute 'dog'!" Jagger yelled.

"You've disgraced the Princeton name, as far as we're concerned your no brother of ours!" Slade agreed.

"I did the best I could." Chazz replied as 'politely' as he could.

"THE BEST YOU COULD? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WE SPENT ON THIS DUEL?"

"The cameras, the network deals, the rare cards, none of which you USED by the way!"

"I tried to win using my own cards, I thought I could win on my own."

"Yourself?" Jagger asked as he grabbed him and lifted him by the shirt.

"When have you been able to do anything by yourself?" Slade added.

"Put him 'down'." Joseph snarled as he stepped forward and 'shoved' his way between Chazz and his brothers. "How could he possibly win, when he has brothers like you!"

"And who do you think you are, you think you are 'anyone' to us?" Jagger said as he grabbed 'him' now and sneered. "I could throw you out of this school with a few well-placed phone calls to the right people, so if I were you, I'd-."

"Please take your, filthy hands, off of my young master."

Suddenly a svelte hand slapped away Jagger's hand, forcing him to release Joseph as Sheou stood behind him, with a frown.

"And who do you think you are?"

"The lady who will be suing you if you decide to lay another finger on my young master." She said politely. "With the group of 'highly paid lawyers' who frequented my café who happened to be visiting this academy as spectators to the duel on their day off, who owe me a few 'favors' after I helped them with relationship problems. With video and audio evidence provided by my staff who were taking 'video recordings' of this duel, who are watching us and recording everything we say and do. Not to mention eyewitnesses who, may I remind you, are watching everything we say and do at this very moment?"

Joseph looked to the side and saw, to his surprise, five very angry looking ladies with cameras trained on the scene, all of them with red recording lights on.

"Grrrg… let's go… I don't have time for this rabble." Slade declared, and both of them left without another word.

Chazz and everyone else watched them go, before glancing at him and giving a silent nod of gratitude.

"Come on Chazz, let's go take our seats to watch the ending ceremony."

After that everyone began cheering and applauding, with Chazz it Up and all that. When they were all settled down Crowler got up onto the stage, looking proud as he looked at both of his students, especially Joseph. He pulled out the microphone and declared, {Well fought on both sides, and now… to present this year's winner of the prize between our esteemed academy and North Academy… I give you… Academy Island's most beautiful woman, MISS DUEL ACADEMY!}

"Wow, Miss Duel Academy? Who could she be?" Joseph asked in awe.

"Be my wingman Joseph." Syrus whispered.

"Here we go again…" Zane said with a shake of his head.

{Here she iiiiiiiiiis!} Crowler called out cheerfully. {Miss Dorothy!}

Ms. Dorothy appeared on stage wearing a fancy dress and lipstick, smiling as she waved at the students.

Joseph contained his laughter for all of five seconds before he held himself from busting a gut!

{Will the winning Chancellor please step up to receive their prize?}

Chancellor Shepard swaggered up onto the stage with the biggest grin anyone had ever seen on his face as he stood next to Dorothy, and then 'Miss Duel Academy', as Dorothy was called, giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"A kiss, 'THAT' was the big prize?" Chazz yelled out in disbelief.

"Waaahahhhaaaa I can't bare to waaaaaatch!" Foster moaned in despair as he cried in his seat.

Later in the day, Joseph was waving off with several other students to say goodbye to the North Academy submarine as it left with the students and chancellor. However, one student had elected to remain behind, Chazz Princeton. After talking with Chancellor Shepard and Foster, he'd made a transfer back to his old academy grounds, and so now stood with Joseph side by side as the sun began setting.

"So, Chazz… you're hanging it out with us in the Slifer Dorm huh?" Joseph asked.

"Yea, but if a wimp like you can get into Ra Yellow and then decide to stay in Slifer, then I'm sure a pro like 'me' will be able to slide back into Obelisk in no time." Chazz said cockily.

"Hmpf, I'll have you know… that I still can become Ra, but I like being with my friends at the moment."

"Yea right… listen… about uh… you know." Chazz said awkwardly.

"Forget about it, as far as I'm concerned, its all water under the bridge." Joseph said as he knew what he was going to say. "So… pals?"

Chazz glanced at him and raised his fist. "Pals."

They bumped fists and headed off to the café to celebrate Joseph's big victory, joined by Sheou.

"Better stay on your game Jo, cause the next time you make that mistake of giving me a chance to fight back… I'm going to make you regret it." He said with a smirk.

"We'll see Chazz, we'll see!" He countered.

Sheou smiled as she walked on Joseph's left, while on Chazz's right, it was as if she were staring at something else, the image of his Armed Dragon LV 10 which roared at her. She nodded, knowing that 'another' was on the island that she would be happy to encounter again.

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"Master… there is still one trial to overcome, one final battle to endure… but will you be ready for it when it arrives? Not everyone can endure it… not everyone wants to endure it… and very few can recover from it."

"I know however… you have the power, and the will, for you are our Master… the Master… of the Dragonmaids."

=Next Time, Joseph vs Seto Kaiba, Breaking the Spirit, Blue Eyes White Dragon Rise=

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Please, review away, no matter who… I am super tired… I wrote this entire chapter in '4' days… I am exhausted mentally.

If you noticed, yes the next duel is Seto Kaiba, and he's the last 'OG' duelist outside of GX era that will be seen dueling, except maybe Pegasus but dunno.

Also, I need someone who knows how Monarchs work… I need advice and help with a duel using those cards in the future, if anyone wants to help me, PM me~!