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.

2. Chapter 2

For those of you wondering, there is '1' card that isn't real, and I made up for this duel just to give Chazz's deck something extra to make it more dangerous than what was used in the anime for the duel against the MC and the dragonmaids. Plz forgive this 1 card as I could not find a card that would fit Chazz's deck them at this point in the story.

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My young master, my destiny is to be at your side forevermore, yet you are but one of many masters that I have served throughout my life. Each time I offer my master the same proposal, a lifetime of servitude, a lifetime of affection and a lifetime of hope, that they will be the one to give me what I truly desire in this world.

You are not the first my master, nor will you be the last to become a master to the Dragonmaids, but will you be the first master 'of' the Dragonmaids?

=Chapter 2 Prologue=

"I see, so you would like to build a special café here on Duel Academy Island?" The Chancellor of Duel Academy said over the phone. "While it is unusual to have such a request made to us, I'm afraid I will need to get permission from our owner before I grant your request."

"You don't need to worry about that, we have already been granted permission by Seto Kaiba himself. You will find the permission form filed and sent to your email by morning. The funding of the construction efforts has also been prepaid, and the staff will of course also be paid for, so there is no need to worry about Duel Academy being charged for anything." A polite voice said. "The building's construction will begin in a few days, and complete about ten days later, and the staff will fully arrive the day of completion for the grand opening."

"Well, then I guess there's nothing else for me to say besides I hope you enjoy doing business here on Duel Academy Island, on behalf of the staff and student body, I look forward to your visit." Chancellor Shepard said with a smile. "So, to whom am I addressing?"

"You may call me Sheou, and I will be arriving the night of the new students arriving. I hope you will put your staff on notice that I will be serving as the personal maid to a particular student there and will require access to his dorm room and where he goes for classes."

"A personal maid for a student, he must be something special, or probably very rich, very well I'll let them know, so who is this student?"

"He is a First Year Slifer Red, by the name of Joseph Takara." The voice said proudly. "And he is the only one whom I will call 'master'."

=Chapter 2, Welcome to Duel Academy=

=Chazz Princeston's Bet, Sheou on the Line!=

"Welcome to all of our new students, as Chancellor Sheperd of Duel Academy, nothing gives me greater pride then to see so many new faces for 'all' of our Dorm Houses. Whether your Slifer Red, Obelisk Blue, or Ra Yellow, everyone here is a family of Duel Academy!"

Joseph sat in the front row next to Syrus his friend after receiving their jackets, which also served as their uniforms. He had been picked for Slifer Red, same with Syrus, and honestly, he was super excited for his first days here at the academy. On the trip here while everyone was looking at the island from the helicopter windows, he was in the back with Syrus talking about his cards because he had so many questions about them with a few other students who were eager to learn about them. He kept on showing Bastion his cards as he asked so many questions about them, laughing when a few guys tried to trade for some of his cards, even offering him super rare cards for them but turning them all down the instant they tried.

He could 'swear' he heard giggles coming from his cards as he saw spirit forms of his Dragonmaids as he told them 'No they aren't for trade'. He knew Lorpar had a good laugh when someone offered him a super rare 'Kuriboh' for her card, Nudyarl just shook her head in disbelief when someone else tried to trade one of his Magic Cylinders for her, and Tinkhec floated out of the chopper to return five minutes later with her head in the palm of her claws after the offer he received for 'her'.

He naturally kept all of that to himself because who would believe that he sees them as spirits when they decide to show themselves, he loved his cards, and he could see they loved him, he'd never even think of trading any of them away. He started calling them spirits because before, where he could barely make them out, now they looked more defined, almost like very weak holograms that only 'he' could see.

At first, he was tempted to tell Syrus, but he chose not to for the sake of his school social life.

He quickly made friends with Bastion, who seemed eager to learn about his cards, saying he's never seen them before in person, and only knows rumors and myths about them. He got to hold a few of his cards, but the one card he didn't let him or anyone touch was House Dragonmaid, though that was because he never asked to see her. Those that did got the 'I left her in my luggage by accident' excuse.

"Now just one last announcement before I let you all go to explore the campus and head to your dorms for your Welcome Feasts at your dorms, this year our academy will be having an additional facility added to the school layout. From what I've been told it's going to be a place where students can go to 'chillax' as you youngsters say and spend their free time after classes. Food and drink will be served by an all-female staff in 'uniquely designed' uniforms, I believe the term is referred to as 'Cosplay'."

"Wow, an all-female staff, you think any of them will be really cute girls?"

"Knowing our luck, they'll only accept Obelisk Blue students if they are, and if they accept everyone, they'll probably be real old adults."

"So, Joseph, you got any hopes for this new building?" Syrus asked him.

"Hmm, oh not really, I'm used to cosplaying girls all the time where I lived and worked." He told him.

"Wait, all the time, man where did you live, a maid café or something?" He asked in surprise.

"As a matter of fact, yea, I lived at the Maid of the Dragon's Café in Domino City." He explained while the Chancellor explained how students could earn 'Dragon Coins' to spend at the new location. "They didn't' always cosplay though, they just wore maid outfits while on the clock, but one day when they were complaining about a lack of customers, I suggested maybe they try dressing up as duel monsters, specifically my Dragonmaid cards. Next day when I come back home from school, they're all dressed as Dragonmaids."

"Wow… you are so lucky." Syrus said quietly. "Say, were any of them cute?"

"Uhm, I 'guess', considering they raised me like I was their younger brother almost all the time, I never saw them as 'cute'." He chuckled quietly, not daring to mention how those girls from the café always seemed overly affectionate toward him. "But they were always there for me when I needed them, didn't matter what it was or when it was, if I ever needed them for anything they were there in a heartbeat. Sometimes they would duel me even if they weren't very good at it, or if I ever wanted to practice some of my combos, they would be my guinea pigs. Even when they lost, they seemed happy to help me. Sometimes they even lost on purpose to help build my confidence."

"You miss them, don't you?" Syrus asked. "Sorry for asking but, it sounds like they were really good sisters to you."

He looked sadly at the floor as Shepard bid them farewell, wished them a great year, and told them enjoy their day and head to their dorms for their Welcome Dinners when it was time. "Yea, they were the best sisters I could have ever asked for… they just loved me from the bottom of their hearts it seemed."

Truth was, he did miss them dearly, they were there when he boarded the chopper for Duel Academy, and they sent him off with their biggest 'good luck at duel academy' message ever. Before he left however, he looked to Sheou, who smiled and waved him off and bowed respectfully toward him, alongside the other girls. The next moment he blinked, it was like they were gone, though it was probably because a crowd of people got in front of them which obscured his vision.

Outside the students mingled and went on their separate ways, the new students off to explore while the returning ones headed to their dorms. He checked out his red uniform again and chuckled at how it wasn't exactly his favorite color. "So, looks like we're Slifer Red buddies Syrus."

"Yea, looks like it!" He said as he too checked out his uniform.

Bastion walked out and waved over to walk to them, though unlike them he was in yellow. "Hey Bastion, you became a Ra Yellow huh?"

"Indeed, I guess my marks, though being high, weren't enough to warrant an Obelisk Blue position, oh well, guess that means I have room to improve." He said politely. "I see you are in Slipher Red."

"Yep, speaking of which… uh do you know where the dorms are?" Joseph asked.

"Well, if you mean your dorms, you'll find them over there by the ocean cliff." He said pointing them. "I have to head over to Ra Yellow's dorms, to unpack my things and start brushing up on my formulas and equations."

"Already, man you really want that blue uniform." Joseph said as he got up. "Well thanks a lot Bastion, see you in classes then!"

"See you too Joseph, and I hope to see more of your deck in future duels."

"Want to learn the secrets of my deck huh, you and everybody else here wants to check out my dragonmaids." He laughed as he and Syrus walked off.

Bastion smiled as they walked away, "Well why wouldn't I be interested? Your deck is the most unique one I've ever seen, there's not a single duelist out there with your cards to compare you to." He declared as he pulled out his own deck and looked at his Water Dragon card.

[Water Dragon, Lvl 8, Water Attribute, Sea Serpent Type, Effect Monster, 2800 Atk, 2600 Def]

"I can compare my deck, any of my decks to any number of duelists out there with similar cards, and learn from their mistakes, their successes and augment my strategy and building skills to improve my own deck. But I cannot compare you to any other duelist out there, you are one of a kind, and that makes you probably the most interesting duelist here with the most interesting deck ever seen."

He smiled as he put his cards away and headed off to Ra Yellow's dorm.

After a long walk over to the Slifer Red dorm they had their first look at where they'd be living, but also noticed there were several construction cones indicating that a building was being constructed nearby. The Slifer Dorm looked more like an oversized shed that bordered the cliff overlooking the ocean. Something at the back of Joseph's mind said that this wasn't going to be 'ideal living conditions' for him or the other Slifers, but he surmised that perhaps all the dorms were like this.

"Man, this is a dormitory, it looks more like a backyard shed… the paint is peeling, there seem to be stains, and I think I see a few roaches crawling around." Syrus complained.

"It aint paradise Syrus, but at least it's home for now." He agreed.

They went over to where their room was, and he looked around at their new living space to see that he was noticing a trend at Duel Academy. "Well, it's not what I'm used to but… I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this."

Their small living space was cramped with three bunk styled beds in the corner, while on the other side was a singular desk and lamp post obviously meant to be shared by two people 'minimum' and stashed in the corner next to the door was a small kitchen area complete with cramped stove and mini fridge.

"Syrus, something tells me that Slifers aren't exactly well 'liked' if you catch my drift here, either that or we got unlucky with the dorm draw."

"Yea, I'm starting to see a trend as well."

"At least we have a nice window view of the ocean!" He said cheerfully trying to put a positive spin on the room. "Maybe some natural light will make it look better!"

Right as he opened the blinds to let in some sunlight an indignant yell said, "Will you close the blinds back up, I had it dark in here for a reason!"

Shocked he closed the blinds and looked over at the top bunk where a shifting mass turned over to reveal a fellow slifer angrily looking at them, with a rather unique hairstyle and prominently chubby nose. If he had to compare him, Joseph had to say their new roommate looked like a giant red Kuala. A giant red 'angry' looking Kuala.

"Uh I'm sorry… I didn't know anyone else was in here!" He quickly explained while Syrus had a mini panic attack. "We're new here and this is our new dorm room, I'm Joseph, Joseph Takara, and this is Syrus, Syrus Trusdale."

"Freshmen huh, well since you're new here let me explain how things work around here!"

"Like when parent teacher conference day is?" Syrus asked innocently.

He was about to feel upset at that knowledge until their new roommate said, "No, I'm talking about the whole color system here, that's what really matters and spells exactly who your friends and foes are." He said. "You got three different kinds of students here, Obelisk Blues, Ra Yellows, and Slifer Reds. The Blues are the highest tiered students, some are Blues because of good grades, others are well connected, and others are just plain rich."

"Then you have the Ra Yellows, the second highest. If your Ra Yellow that means you are pretty much a younger student who is average of the pack but you have potential, and that means you'll be watched and possibly upgraded to Obelisk Blue. Ras tend to have good grades, but lack connections or money, but still have that potential to become greater."

He glanced at them with a dejected look as he began to explain them now. "Then you have us, the Slifer Reds, or the 'Red Wonders'."

"Red Wonders… that's a really cool name!" He said as he suddenly pictured himself as a superhero among the slifers.

"As in, I can only wonder how flunkies like us even 'got' here!" Their roommate said bitterly. "Sorry to break it to you this way, but we're the failures, the rejects, the people who barely qualified for the 'participation award' at Duel Academy. We're the bottom of the barrel. My name's Chumley by the way, sorry I didn't mention it earlier."

He glanced at Syrus who looked down and dejected at being placed in the 'worst tier' at Duel Academy, but he had a positive spin on it. "Well then that means there's only one way to go from here on out!" He said proudly. "And that is 'up', we're going to prove to everyone out there that we're not the dueling rejects they make us out to be!"

"How can you be so confident?" Syrus asked as he saw his bag near the beds and went to unpack.

"Simple, we have nothing left to lose Syrus from here on out!" He said as he pulled out his stuff. "I mean, we're already the 'bottom of the barrel' as Chumley put it. If we lose then all we do is confirm what they suspect, so if we win and gain respect, then the only thing that can happen is good things to us."

"You have a point… yea… yea your right!" He said as fire began erupting from his eyes and a look of 'fierce' determination took hold. "We're slifer reds, we got nothing to lose and everything to gain!"

"Uh turn down the temperature Syrus, or you'll burn a fuse." He chuckled as he continued unpacking. "You'll need every fuse to prove everyone wrong after all!"

"Right!"

Half an hour later they finished unpacking and put their things away, so with time to spare before the big Slifer Red Welcome Dinner, he and Syrus decided to look around campus to get familiar with things and see how things were laid out. Which is how they soon found themselves wandering the campus halls until they found themselves entering an empty arena set up for duels with seats everywhere. Though there were a few Obelisk Blue students there.

"Wow this place is amazing!" Joseph said in awe. "This is way too awesome. This totally beats the pavement duels I had at the café Syrus!"

"You're telling me, but are you sure we should be here Joseph?"

"It's literally not even the first day of classes, they can't possibly punish us for looking around, besides we're students, why shouldn't we be here?"

"Because for a starter this isn't your campus you Slifer Red rejects!" One of the blue students said from the stage.

"Yea, can't you look around you?" The other one said, nodding behind them. "Can't you see the crest?"

He looked behind and saw what they were saying, overlooking the entryway was an Obelisk the Tormentor crest, representing the Obelisk Blue Students.

"Oh man, I'm sorry you guys, we were just looking around… but listen just let us look for a few more minutes and then we'll leave alright?" Joseph said quickly, wanting to diffuse the situation and not make enemies on his first day here.

At that they took a closer look at him and it was obvious that they suddenly recognized him from somewhere, "Hey, you're that guy who beat Doctor Crowler."

"Hey Chazz, the guy with the pretty girl deck is here, take a look!"

Above them another Obelisk Blue student who had been relaxing apparently sat up straight to check out who they were talking about, and instantly Joseph had the idea that this guy was 'not' friendly to say the least. He just had this air of someone who did not like those around him and just one look from him caused him to glare in contempt at them.

"Uhm, hi, I'm Joseph, Joseph Takara… this is Syrus… your name is Chazz was it?" He said warmly, hoping to get off on the right foot.

Sadly, the right foot turned out to be his bad foot, as Chazz sneered at him from the upper level with his dark grey eyes. "The name is 'Chazz Princeton', got it Slifer Slacker?" He snapped. "You best show the proper respect to your superiors ya hear me, I was the number 1 duelist back at duel prep school, and someday I'm going to be the next King of Games! The best duelist in the world!"

With that he knew they weren't going to be friends, and he replied coldly, "Fine, by all means, we'll be leaving, sorry for 'intruding' on your turf."

"Sure thing 'loser'!" He called to them. "But just so you know, you don't deserve that fancy deck of yours!"

With that he stopped dead in his track and looked back at the Obelisk Blue student. "Care to run that by me again?"

"Uh Joseph, what happened to 'we'll be leaving'?" Syrus asked nervously.

"You heard me slacker, you don't deserve your fancy cards you won against Doctor Crowler with at the entrance exam with!" Chazz replied with a grin as he stepped down to stare him eye to eye. "So, tell me, what fool did you con to get them, did you forge them or did some idiots make a stupid bet to let you have such rare and valuable cards? Heh, I bet you actually stole them now that I think about it, because there's no way a Red Reject could possibly own the 'only' set of those cards ever seen!"

"Because the truth is, you could 'never' have beaten Crowler's rare card without those cards… in other words you probably lucked out."

He glared back as he refused to stoop to his level, and simply replied, "They belong to me, they 'chose' me, and I won that duel with their help, but I still won it."

"Yea right… how about we see for ourselves if you can walk the talk… or if you're just a flunky who got 'lucky'."

He was sorely tempted to accept his challenge, just to put him in his place about his comment about the Dragonmaids, when a more stern and feminine voice spoke up. "Causing trouble for some slifers Chazz, or am I just interrupting a friendly conversation."

They looked over to see a blonde-haired girl who looked to be fifteen looking unfriendly towards Chazz and his fellow Obelisk Blue, despite herself being an Obelisk Blue.

"Whoa, nice to meet you again Alexis!" Syrus said instantly.

"You know Alexis slacker?" Chazz asked in disgust.

"We met at the entrance exams; I came looking for you Chazz." She replied.

"Oh, came to watch me mop the floor with this slacker, how nice of you." Chazz asked smugly.

"Hardly, the Obelisk Welcome Dinner is starting soon, so get your butt moving already or you'll be late." She said in minor disgust.

"Ugh, fine… let's go guys." He said disappointedly, walking past them with his friends.

Once he was out of earshot, she turned to him with a warm smile and said, "Sorry if Chazz rubbed you the wrong way, not 'all' Obelisk Blue students are like him, some of us are actually decent. He just a jerk, especially toward Slifers. I'm Alexis by the way, Alexis Rhodes, nice to meet you."

She offered him a handshake and he accepted it with an equal smile. "No problem, Joseph Takara… but I bet you knew that already."

"Yep, I watched you at the entrance exams… I have to say you dueled quite well for a novice, and your deck… well forgive the expression but your cards were beautiful to look at, and just as beautiful in battle." She said politely. "I know it may sound rude, but would it be okay if I just took a quick peak at them since I might not have the chance again soon? I just wanted to get a better look at them since the exams."

"Well… uh… sure go ahead." He said, reaching down and pulling out his deck case, pulling out his cards but making sure to hide one from view. "Here, I'm sorry if you wanted to see House Dragonmaid but I kind of accidentally… potentially, more like literally… left her in my luggage back at the dorm and forgot to put her in the deck."

"That's alright… I just wanted to see some of your deck's monsters." She said warmly, looking at each of the Dragonmaids one at a time. "They are very beautiful Joseph… where did you get them if you don't mind me asking?"

"Sorry to interrupt but we're going to be late for the Slifer Welcome Dinner Joseph!" Syrus said quickly.

"Oh, you go on ahead Syrus I'll catch up!" He said, and Syrus sighed and walked off. "Anyway… I'll be honest I didn't actually 'get them' in the way you're thinking. They actually came to me… or I found them if that's how you want to put it."

"Found them?" She asked in surprise as she replaced all the cards in the order she saw them and handed the deck back to him.

"Yea, unlike what people keep thinking, I received them one by one without actually searching for them." He explained. "Sometimes I would just randomly find them in weird places, and other times I'd just receive them from random people. Like Ernus here, I found her between two boxes of laundry detergent I pulled from the shelf at the store. Lorpar I found underneath an overturned empty cup of tea, Tinkhec I found under the stove when I was dusting and Nudyarl I pulled out of the washer before I turned it on when I spotted her. The magic and trap cards I kept getting as 'tips' from patrons, though they never actually handed them to me, they just left them with the bill payment after they left the café."

"And the rest, I notice only about half of your deck is 'actually' Dragonmaid cards?"

"Uh… thrown away cards that kids left at the café…" He muttered. "I never made a lot of money to buy my own cards, so I pretty much used whatever card I could find or was given to me. I knew that only using Dragonmaids wasn't going to cut it for a full deck so… I used whatever I could find."

"Really?" She asked in surprise, with how 'rare' and 'valuable' those Dragonmaid cards were, she figured he had 'some' cash to spare.

"Yea, I know you think they're rare and valuable, and they probably are… but most of my deck is hand-me-downs and throwaway cards." He explained as he pulled out the 'dragon' form of his maids to look at them. "That's why I got so hostile toward Chazz, these cards mean everything to me, without them I have no real cards of my own."

At that she felt a spark of sympathy and pity for him, as a fellow duelist herself she respected all cards, especially those that receive attention and care from their owners. Heck if she had his cards, she'd treat them like precious gemstones, put them in special sleeves, perhaps never even use them. She smiled as she reached into her jacket's inner pocket and pull out her own deck and began browsing through it looking for a specific card until she had another idea, and just plucked a few cards that would work perfectly with his dragons from her deck of 'cards she never uses'.

"Here Joseph, take these from me and replace some cards from your deck with these." She said warmly, handing him the cards she'd picked. "Think of them as… courtesy gifts from a friend, and to show you that not 'all' Obelisks are jerks."

He took the cards and looked at them with surprise, as he'd never seen some of these cards before.

[Continuous Magic Card, Spring of Rebirth]

[Equip Magic Card, United we Stand]

[Trap Cards, Numinous Healer x3]

[Continuous Trap Card, Wall of Revealing Light]

"Whoa, are you really giving me these for free, these are some awesome cards, I never saw any of these before…" He spoke. "Are you sure it's okay to just give them to me?"

"You trusted me to hold onto your cards for a bit, and you trusted me to share your story with them… besides I never use them so, no reason to keep them if I never use them. They'll be better off with you and your deck of Dragonmaids, maybe they'll serve you better and help your deck get stronger." She said with a smile. "Just think of us as friends, and friends help each other out!"

"Thanks a lot Alexis… I really owe you big time." He said as he started pulling out the most 'useless' cards from his deck to replace them with the cards she just gave him.

"Joseeeeeeeeph, will you hurry up, we're going to be late for the Slifer Welcome Dinner!" Joseph heard Syrus yelling.

"Alright I'm coming, sorry Alexis but dinner calls!" He said as he ran out. "Thanks again for the cards, I really owe you!"

She just chuckled a little as he left her in the duel arena alone, and just sighed before heading to the Obelisk Blue dorm for the welcome dinner as well. He's definitely someone to keep an eye on, and someone who needed some help with his deck. She had a good look at all of his cards, and aside from the Dragonmaids and a few 'decent' cards, most of what else he had was essentially junk, stuff prep-school students used in their starter decks.

'He is kinda cute though, he deserves a 'few' good cards besides his Dragonmaids… not like he doesn't have good cards but… well he just needed some help.'

Across the island at the various dorm homes, as night began descending the 'Welcome Dinners' started. Over at the 'Male' Obelisk Blue dorms Doctor Crowler was raising a glass to his students. The Female Obelisk Blue dorm saw Fonda Fontaine gossiping with her girls as they toasted and talked in an elegant ballroom next to a fountain. At the Ra Yellow dorm Sartyr was giving a toast to his Ra Yellow students as they dined on their banquet that he made himself.

Meanwhile over at the Slifer Red dorm in the small, cramped, old style, practically grade school themed eating area the Slifer Red students looked at their 'fancy welcome dinner' with minor disappointment. Their dinner essentially consisted of a bowl of rice, some fish, some kind of bean dish and a small plate of sliced fruit to be eaten with chopsticks.

"This is our fancy welcome dinner…?"

"Forget that our headmaster is a cat, what's up with that!"

He looked up at the head of the room to see said cat lazily yawning and sleeping in front of the kitchen area. He was actually wondering if that was true, suspecting that it might be given how Slifer Red seems to get the short stick on just about everything around here, until someone parted the little hanging curtains and walked out in front of them. They were a tall looking professor with a friendly air about them, in a professor's suit and wearing glasses.

"Hello children, I'm Professor Banner, now before we eat, I would like everyone to tell us something about themselves!" He said politely. "Hmmm, how about we start with you in the back!"

Seeing that he was the one pointed to, he nodded and got up to say, "Well my name is Joseph Takara, and as you all probably know by now… I'm the guy who uses Dragonmaids for his deck."

"The guy with the cute dragon girl cards?" Someone older asked.

'Why is it always they see me as just 'the guy with the cute dragon girl cards'?' He thought quietly.

'You're telling us master… I think that Alexis girl was pretty cute back there though… but not as cute as you are to us!' Tinkhec said as she appeared next to him with a grin.

"Will you stop that…" He muttered under his breath as he sat down and someone else spoke up.

'Master's just jealous that he thinks Alexis is cute… but we still think you're the cutest of us all 'master'!' Lorpar said as she appeared next to him on his other side.

"Can I eat in peace?" He asked.

"Huh, why do you want to eat in peace?" Syrus asked him curiously.

"Oh, nothing… just ignore me! Talking to myself is all." He responded quickly as Lorpar and Tinkhec left him with grins.

Half an hour later they began eating, and while the 'dinner' wasn't nearly as grand as he hoped, he liked how it tasted still. It was nothing on Kite's cooking, nor Sheou when she put her hand to it, but Banner definitely knew how to work the oven and stove to make a dinner. Plus, there was plenty of it, so he got to eat seconds and even thirds. There was a ton of talk going around, gossiping about cards and dueling moves, but he always heard a few people talking about his Dragonmaids.

"Now students, before we all head off to our beds for the night, there is one announcement I want to remind you all about." Professor Banner said as their dinner winded down. "Some of you may or may not know this, but the school staff will be playing host to a few new staff members, who while aren't working 'under' Duel Academy will be working with and 'for' the student body at large. Our school will also be hosting a personal maid for one of the students here."

"A personal maid huh, probably for a rich student or someone big in Obelisk Blue." He muttered.

"Yea, they always get the good stuff." Syrus muttered.

"Now as for who they are, well…"

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Ah, that must be them now…" Banner said as he shouted that the door was open.

The door opened and he looked around and choked on his drink.

"Sheou?"

Sheou walked in with a warm smile, wearing her traditional European 'full body' maid outfit, bowed to each of the students as she passed them to stand at the front of the room. She then turned and bowed one last time and said, "Hello everyone, I am Sheou, and I will be acting as the personal maid to Joseph Takara here. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"He gets a personal maid?"

"Are you serious?"

"What kind of luck does he have that I don't have?"

"A deck of rare, cute dragon girls 'and' a personal maid?"

He groaned inside as he felt his social life here at Duel Academy dying before his eyes.

After everyone got over him having a personal maid 'and' he'd gone to his dorm room with Syrus and Chumley, and now Sheou, he found that the room had been cleaned 'spotless', the paint was even looking fresh, the beds were made, and Sheou had even found time to prepare a pot of warm tea for them. It was obviously her handiwork, as only 'she' would go above and beyond for him.

"Sheou what are you doing here?" He asked her. "Not that I don't like it, but what happened to the café and… just why are you here?"

She smiled as she served his tea and knelt down before him. "You see master, I've always taken care of you since you were a child after your mother and grandfather died. According to law you need to have a caretaker with you until you graduate school, in this case Duel Academy. While you are here that rule not is required, but I still felt I should be here just in case you needed my assistance for anything. Since I promised your grandfather on his death that I would watch over you until that time happened, I felt it necessary to come here and join you as your maid."

"But… Sheou… you practically raised me as a son…" He muttered embarrassingly. "Wait, then that means the 'all-female' staff coming here are…"

"Yes… the other workers from the café are coming here as well to work full time as maid staff to the student body, while working part time running the café in the evening." She said politely. "It has all been taken care of, don't worry…"

"That's not what I was worried about… I mean… Sheou… you girls are practically family to me… you're like my sisters and mother… you've raised me… this is going to be extremely awkward after everyone finds out."

At that he saw Sheou look forlornly at him, with a very hurt expression on her face, the first time he'd ever seen her look that way. "I'm terribly sorry if this is causing you hardship. If… you really wish it, we'll cancel our plans and I'll take the first flight back home and we'll not trouble you any further."

"Hey if he doesn't want a personal maid, I'll take one!" Chumley whispered.

"Chumley, leave him alone, can't you tell this is personal to them?"

"What I'm just saying…"

He sighed as he pictured all of the girls when he'd left them, all wanting to go with him, saying how they'd miss him, wishing him luck… and then he pictured their expressions when they were told he didn't want them around, how heartbroken or hurt they'd be as they were told to turn around and go back home. He also looked at Sheou who seemed truly distressed at his reaction, but how was he to react, she'd 'raised' him, taught him lessons and been there every step of his life when his grandpa died. She'd picked him up from school, taken him there, taught him how to do things for himself and even helped him whenever he needed it. Heck she even stayed with him for months every night after to help him cope with losing his family.

She just wanted to be with him, perhaps not as his 'mother' but as his maid, like she always said she was to him.

So, he sighed and smiled, saying "Alright, if you girls want to stick around with me here, then who am I to say no to having family around again? Besides, it will be nice seeing them again and having them around!"

She smiled back and bowed respectfully, the distress and hurt in her voice and face vanishing instantly. "Thank you, 'master', we'll serve you diligently while here."

"Just don't embarrass me please?" He begged her.

"Say uh, since you're his personal maid, does that mean you'll be cleaning our room for all of us, or is it just him?" Chumley asked.

"Chumley!" Syrus said indignantly.

"What, it's just a question…"

Sheou smiled as she looked at them, "Even though you aren't my masters, I believe it would only be fair if I performed the same tasks that I would perform for Joseph here for you as well." She said warmly. "But I will not do your homework for any of you, and even if he asked, I would only 'assist' in helping him do his homework himself, not do it for him."

"You always do that with me!" He complained to which they all laughed.

That was about when his Duel Academy provided phone rang, and he took it out to see he'd received a personal email from, Chazz Princeton. Scowling, he answered it and let the message play. [Hey there slacker, don't think I haven't forgotten about you.] He said in his sneering tone. [I've got a proposal for you, meet me at the Obelisk Blue duel arena at midnight, and we'll have our duel there unless you're a coward. And to make it interesting, I have a little offer for you… when you arrive!]

He scowled even more as the message ended, before reaching over and grabbing his deck and duel disk.

"Master, you aren't thinking of going to meet that ruffian are you, it's almost bedtime and your first day of classes is tomorrow." Sheou said in a slightly 'sour' tone.

"Yea man, just let him be, let's just go to sleep and not get into trouble tonight!" Syrus said.

"For once I agree with Syrus, if that's 'Chazz' your dueling, all you've got is trouble man."

"No, this guy needs to learn a lesson to not disrespect my Dragonmaids, and especially not to accuse me of not being 'worthy' to have them." He said as he opened the door and left. "I'm not a coward, and I'm not afraid of him. He may be good, but the only way to improve is to get good, as the saying goes! Besides, I've got nothing to lose as I'm a 'Slifer Slacker' as he calls us."

Behind him Sheou walked out, diligently following him along with Syrus and even Chumley got out of bed to follow along.

It was a long walk to the campus buildings where the arena he agreed to meet Chazz was, and all the while he expected perhaps security or someone to appear and tell them to get to bed, but surprisingly they met not a soul.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Joseph, I think if we turn around now you can just pretend you never got the email!" Syrus suggested.

"I've made my choice, I'm dueling Chazz and that's that!" He said determinedly as he walked into the arena.

"Well, look who showed up boys." Chazz said with a confident smirk. "Guess your not the coward I said you'd be, now let's see if you can duel as well as you can cheer for yourself at the exams."

"You'll find out for yourself!" He said as he got onto the stage to stand against him. "So, what's this 'little offer' of yours?"

"Hehehehe, remembered that did you, well here's what I propose, we duel for some high stakes!" Chazz replied as he pulled out a briefcase and opened it, showing it was filled to the brim with rare and sparkling cards, as well as rolls of money. "If you beat me, then you can have 'everything' in this briefcase! All these rare cards, some that only 'money' can buy, and over ten grand in bills can be yours if you win!"

For a moment he was actually tempted to accept, just because he'd never seen so many rare cards and so much 'money' in his life, until he narrowed his eyes and asked, "And if I 'lose'?"

"Then I get all of your pretty 'Dragonmaid' cards for keeps…" Chazz said with a wicked grin. "So are you going to agree to my terms, or are you going to chicken out and admit that without those cards, you're nothing but a slacking slifer who got 'lucky'. You should consider yourself lucky, I'm not using all these rare cards against you, cause I don't need them, I know I can win and snap you like a twig!"

He snarled to himself, but he refused to take the bait, he opened his mouth to say he'd reject the offer and refuse to duel. There was 'no way' he'd risk his Dragonmaids in a duel against a prick like Chazz, not for all the money or rare cards in the world.

Until…

"My master will never accept those terms!" Sheou said politely from the sidelines, causing eyes to turn to her. "However, if you agree to amend the terms, he will duel you."

"Oh really, and what pray tell would you like me to 'amend'?"

Sheou smiled confidently as she placed the palm of her hand against her chest. "If you amend the condition of what he loses, he will duel you. In exchange for him keeping the Dragonmaid cards, if instead he loses, then I will agree to become your obedient servant from this day forward." She said. "I am his personal maid here at Duel Academy, and I have served as his caretaker and maid for the last five years. Those cards mean the world to him, and no amount of money or rare cards will 'ever' convince him to part with his Dragonmaids. I however… he can live without while he is here. Do you accept these terms?"

Joseph was about to say he wouldn't duel before Chazz laughed and shouted, "A personal maid to him for years, and you agree to serve me instead if he loses? Oh, that is one heck of a deal, I accept your terms! If I win, then you have to do whatever I say, and I mean 'anything'."

She nodded warmly and said, "Agreed, Joseph please duel Mr. Princeton here."

"No way am I dueling under those terms, I refuse, I'm not risking 'you' in a duel just to prove a point against this guy! I practically consider you my mother, you're my family, I'd never even think of putting your freedom on the line over some school grudge duel!"

She smiled warmly again at his words, even blushing slightly as she looked him in the eyes, "I'm flattered master, but I have confidence that you will win… so please, duel this 'ruffian' and teach him the lesson you wished to teach."

He felt all the bitterness to the deal slowly fade away because of the loving look Sheou was giving him. He really didn't want to duel this guy and treat Sheou like some property that could be traded whenever he wanted. She was family, he loved her, she was like the mother he'd lost and gained back after his grandfather and mother died, she never left his side for a day, always supported his interests no matter what they were, and always believed he could accomplish whatever he wanted. But she was the one who made the proposal… and if she believed he'd win, then he'd duel to prove her right.

"Fine, I accept the terms, so let's duel!" He declared as he inserted his deck, turned the disk on, his cards were shuffled, and his hand was drawn.

"Hehehe, game 'on' slacker!" Chazz said as his duel disk activated, his deck was shuffled, and he drew his first hand.

[Chazz Princeton – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 4000]

"Since we're in Obelisk Blue's room, I'll start things off 'slifer slacker'!" Chazz said as he drew his first card, looked at his hands and said, "For my first move, I'll summon Reborn Zombie in attack mode!"

On the field an extremely bony 'zombie' creature with rotting flesh, missing teeth and black empty eye sockets wearing rags of green and rings around its wrists appeared.

[Reborn Zombie, Dark Attribute, Zombie Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk, 1600 Def]

"I'll also play two cards face down! Go ahead and make your move."

He grimaced at the monster he was looking at, it was hardly pleasing to stare at, but he figured that his opponent was a zombie type user, or a dark type user based on that card. Still, he nodded and drew his first card.

[Numinous Healer] Which along with the other cards in his hands gave him, [Dragonmaid Changeover, Laundry Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Welcome, Dragonmaid Lorpar, Dragonmaid Tinkhec]

Next to him Nudyarl appeared in spirit form, angrily glaring at Chazz across the field. 'Put me in master, I'll teach him to try and separate us from you!'

"Your wish is my command, cause I have just the combo to pull it off, Laundry Dragonmaid come to the field in attack mode!" He declared, placing her card on the field.

On the field a cute but very angry Laundry Dragonmaid was summoned onto the field, her mouth showing sharp but 'slightly adorable' fangs being bared toward Chazz's monster.

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

"And now, I activate the Dragonmaid Changeover magic card!" He yelled, playing the card and causing it to appear on the field next. "With this, I can fusion summon one dragon type fusion monster using my Dragonmaids, so long as the requirements are met… so goodbye for now Dragonmaid Lorpar and Dragonmaid Tinkhec and say hello… to House Dragonmaid!"

In a cascade of light and draconic energy, House Dragonmaid appeared on the field next to a quickly bowing respectfully Laundry Dragonmaid. She opened her eyes and stared politely but 'determinately' against their opponent on the other side of the field.

"You wanted to separate me from my Dragonmaids, well try doing that 'now' with House Dragonmaid on the field!" He said with a grin. "She's more than a match for your monster."

Chazz however grinned and said, "I was 'hoping' you'd summon her out, in fact I was counting on it, but I didn't expect you'd bring her out on your first turn. Maybe you never learned this lesson from whatever backyard duel group you played with, but never summon your strongest monster that your entire deck depends on, on the very first turn you can!" He then tapped a button on hid duel disk and said, "Chthonian Polymer, show him what I mean."

One of Chazz's trap cards turned up and his monster became engulfed in orange and red flames, like they were the flames of 'hell'.

"Here's how it works slacker; I take one of my monsters and sacrifice it… and in exchange I take one of your fusion summoned monsters that you summoned 'this turn' to work for 'me'." He said with a grin. "In other words, your maid is 'mine' already!"

He watched in shock as House Dragonmaid was now engulfed in flames and try as she might to resist the card's effect, she was still forced to walk over and stand before Chazz, opposing him and a now silently screaming in terror Laundry Dragonmaid. "No way… my House Dragonmaid!"

"That's right… mine to use as I see fit… maybe I'll sacrifice her, maybe I'll attack with her, maybe I'll just have her sit there and stare at you… but whatever I decide she's 'mine' now. Next time don't bring out your best monster right away unless you want to risk losing it right off the bat!" Chazz laughed.

'Master what are we going to do… we've lost House Dragonmaid… we don't have the strength to fight her, she's too strong for us!' Laundry moaned in fear.

For once he was scared, he'd never faced House Dragonmaid himself, she always was his ace monster and always changed the game when he summoned her. She'd never been turned against him in all the duels before, even the ones he'd lost she'd still turned the duel around for him at the time.

Syrus watched on the sidelines with Chumley as his very best card was turned against him on the very first turn that he made. "Oh man, this is bad Chumley, he's already losing the duel and he hasn't lost a single life point!"

"What's wrong Syrus, what kind of card did Chazz play?"

"A very nasty one, probably one of the nastier ones in his deck, a card called Chthonian Polymer." Alexis said as she walked in to watch the duel. "I had a feeling something like this happened, Chazz is a jerk, but I didn't think he'd do something like this."

"Alexis, nice to meet you again." Syrus said.

"Same, but its not nice to see this duel as it stands. Chthonian Polymer is a card meant only for fusion summons, on the turn a fusion summon is made by the opponent, Chthonian Polymer activates and sacrifices one of your monsters, so that you can take control over the opponent's fusion monster. It's unfortunate that Joseph walked right into it, if he'd waited, he coulda prepared himself better, but now not only has he lost two of his Dragonmaid's dragon forms, but he's also lost the most powerful monster in his deck."

On the field Joseph was looking nervous as he took the two remaining cards in his hand and placed them on the field. "I activate Dragonmaid Welcome, as long as a dragonmaid is on my side of the field, all of my monsters gain one hundred attack and defense points for each one, so Laundry's points go up."

[Laundry Dragonmaid – 500 Atk, 1600 Def – 600 atk, 1700 def]

"I also play one card on the field and end my turn."

"Heh, empty of cards in your hand already, guess you never learned that rule either, never end a turn with zero cards in your hand, it makes you look weaker than you already are!"

"Dang, he's got zero cards in his hand, and his maid is staring down a super powered monster of his own deck." Chumley muttered.

"Yea, and unfortunately neither of the dragons he sent to make her were Laundry's form, so she can't go into her dragon form to save his life points!"

"And knowing Chazz, he's going to take full advantage of his weakness."

"You've got that right, my turn!" Chazz said as he drew his card and summoned another monster. "I summon Chthonian Soldier!"

On the field a new monster appeared wearing metal armor and wielding a curved blade to oppose him and Laundry, who looked ready to faint from terror as she was now outnumbered two to one and outgunned eight to one in terms of points.

"Alright, battle time!" Chazz muttered. "So, tell me, is your little girl ganna pull a swap?"

Joseph shook his head, there was no way he could special summon either Tinkhec or Lorpar from the graveyard with Laundry, and without Nudyarl to take the hit for him, his lifepoints were at major risk.

"Well in that case, Chthonian Soldier, pummel his little maid into tiny bits, with Windstorm Slash!"

Chthonian Soldier launched himself and slashed at Laundry, cutting her down and sending her to the graveyard, while the extra damage was sent straight to his life points.

[Chazz Princeton – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 3200]

"I activate my trap card, Numinous Healer!" He yelled as he played one of the trap cards Alexis gave him. "When I take damage to my life points, I gain back a thousand life points!"

[Chazz Princeton – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 4200]

"Nice move slacker, too bad I'm not done… House Dragonmaid, give your 'former' master a taste of your power!"

House Dragonmaid grimaced as she formed a circle with her fingers and blew white/red/black draconic flame to engulf him in a ball of draconic fire, damaging his life points by 3000. He reeled from the attack as he watched his life points plumet into the danger zone.

[Chazz Princeton – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 1200]

"Understand your place now flunky, you're dueling in the big leagues, this isn't one of your pavement duels with amateurs that can barely duel their way out of a paper bag. Make one mistake here, and you'll get pounced on before you can pay the price." Chazz muttered. "I knew your maid here was your biggest monster, I watched your duel at the exams, and I know her biggest strength is when she's alongside those dragonmaids of yours. While I don't have them for myself, as long as she's on my field, my monsters are safe! And you don't have a single monster that can take her on in your entire deck! With that… I end my turn, go ahead and do your worst."

He ignored him and got back to his feet and drew his next card. [Pot of Greed]

"I play pot of greed, and since your so 'big', you don't need an explanation…" He said as he played the card and then drew two new cards.

[Parlor Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Hospitality]

Next to him Lorpar appeared with a worried but hopeful expression. 'Master, I still think we can win, just keep going, don't give up! If anyone can win this then you can! We still believe in you!'

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, now let's see if I can prove you right!" He whispered. "In fact, I'm seeing a combo that might just save me, I summon Parlor Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

On the field Parlor Dragonmaid appeared with a furious glare, even as she shivered in fear staring at House Dragonmaid on the other side of the field.

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

"Next, I activate Parlor Dragonmaid's ability, when she's summoned to the field, I can send one Dragonmaid card from my deck to the graveyard, and I choose to send, Dragonmaid Sendoff!" He declared while Parlor aimed a finger and fired emerald, green draconic energy at his deck, a magic card was extracted from the deck, and he sent it to the graveyard. "And even if they hate you at this point, my girls are going to show you the ever special 'Dragonmaid Hospitality'! With this I can special summon one dragonmaid monster from my hand or graveyard into defense mode and send a dragonmaid with the same type but different level to the graveyard… so one more time come on back Laundry Dragonmaid!"

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

Laundry appeared on the field with her arms crossed in front of her, looking nervous but determined.

"Now I send Nudyarl to the grave due to Hospitality's effect, and I activate Laundry's effect, which lets me send the top 3 cards of my deck to the grave, now do your stuff Laundry!"

She nodded nervously as she raised a hand, aimed a finger at his deck, and blasted it with blueish purple draconic energy. 'Come on Laundry, I need you to pull through for me here, this setup is good, but we need more to take on House Dragonmaid!' He picked up the top 3 cards and watched as each one was revealed.

[Dragonmaid Tidying, Soul of the Pure, Kitchen Dragonmaid]

"Alright, nicely done Laundry… I active the Dragonmaid Tidying trap card that was sent to my graveyard by Laundry's effect! By removing this card from play, or 'banishing' it as it reads, I can special summon one Dragonmaid Monster from my hand or graveyard into defense position… but it returns to my hand at the end of the turn." He declared as Dragonmaid Tidying was pulled from the graveyard, and he placed it in the 'banished' slot in his duel disk. "Come to my field, Kitchen Dragonmaid!"

Between Laundry and Parlor a new dragonmaid card was played, Kitchen Dragonmaid. In a cascade of multicolored lights, a woman with flowing red hair, turquoise eyes, a red and white draconic tail, red and turquoise draconic wings and turquoise-colored horns, wearing a white and black maid outfit that ended in a draconic skirt, looking like she was wearing draconic high-heels appeared.

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

'I'm ready to cook up a 'feast' of victory for you master… just give the word!' She said proudly.

"Consider it given because I activate your ability, which lets me add one Dragonmaid Card from my deck to my hand, as long as it's not Kitchen Dragonmaid!"

She smiled and pointed a finger at his deck, sending a beam of Crimson-red draconic energy at it.

"And I choose Nurse Dragonmaid! Now I activate Dragonmaid Welcome's second ability!"

"Wait, it has a 'second' ability?" Chazz asked in surprise.

"Ya, if there are two Dragonmaid Monsters on my side of the field, then Welcome lets me target a Dragonmaid card in my graveyard and add it to my hand… and as you can see, three Dragonmaids stand with me, so I choose Dragonmaid Sendoff!"

On the field Dragonmaid Welcome glowed and all 'three' of his Dragonmaids smiled and aimed their hands at his graveyard, pointed a finger and sent an Emerald-green, Crimson Red, and Azure-purple stream of draconic energy into his graveyard, causing Dragonmaid Sendoff to be extracted and added to his hand.

"And just so I don't have to pay the price right now, I'm entering the battle phase, which means all my Dragonmaids transform into their dragon forms!"

As one all three of his maids smiled and glowed, grew and emerged in multicolored lights into their true forms, with Laundry going into Nudyarl, Parlor turning into Lorpar, and finally Kitchen emerging into an elegant and beautiful crimson dragon with white and red wings, a white and red spiky tail, crimson red scales and various turquoise spikes poking from parts of her body and claws.

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

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

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

He pulled all three of his maids back into his hand and smiled as they took up attack formation.

'Awaiting your command master, let us burn him to a crisp!' Tinkhec said eagerly.

"Not yet girls, first there's the effect of Dragonmaid Welcome which is still on the field, meaning all of my dragonmaids get a nice boost for each dragonmaid on the field… and since I count 'three', that means they each get 300 attack and defense points!"

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, 2900 Atk, 1900 Def]

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, 3000 Atk, 2000 Def]

[Dragonmaid Tinkhec, 3000 Atk, 2000 Def]

He smiled as even without House Dragonmaid; his girls were now more than a match for even her. If he attacked now, he'd free House Dragonmaid from her service to Chaz, sure it may cost him a Dragonmaid but at least he'd send both to the graveyard. Plus, he still had two others that could bring the heat. By his math, no matter which maid blew up his Soldier, he'd lose all his life points in one turn so long as Lorpar or Tinkhec destroyed House Dragonmaid.

He was about to attack when he noticed Chazz wasn't exactly looking worried, in fact he looked extremely confident.

'Wait a minute… what if he 'wants' me to attack… he knew I'd try and summon out House as fast as possible, and he's acting way too confident staring down all three of my dragons. Plus, there's that face down he still has… what if it's a trap card that can destroy all of my maids if I launch an attack, or worse causes him to take control or turn the attack against me? For all I know I could be walking right into another trap of his…'

'Master, what are we waiting for, give us the attack order, let's clobber this jerk and get back home in time for bed!' Lorpar asked him.

'Yea, give us the command and we'll clean him out of life points like an overstuffed washing machine!' Nudyarl said.

He looked at his dragon girls and shook his head, "I end the battle phase without launching an attack and send all of my dragons back into my hand, to special summon their maid forms into defense mode!"

His Dragonmaids all looked back at him in confusion but with a nod, causing them all to vanish and to be replaced by their human forms, each kneeling and with arms crossed in front of them to indicate they were in defense.

"I choose to activate my Parlor maid's effects, sending Dragonmaid Ernus to the grave and end my turn."

Down on the floor with Alexis Chumley and Syrus, his friends looked on in confusion as he made his move. "I don't get it, he had the win right there, why not attack and finish him off?" Chumley asked.

"Yea, if Lorpar or Tinkhec destroyed House Dragonmaid, then whoever was left could blow up Chthonian Soldier to deal 1800 life points in damage. And Nudyarl with 2900 attack could have easily finished Chazz off right afterwards." Syrus said.

"Except he didn't, and for good reason, Chazz still has a face down card, and that's probably what spooked him." Alexis said. "Chazz knows Joseph is a novice, and after making one mistake, he put in his head that he needs to be careful or else he loses. Chazz has life points to spare, so he can afford to be a little reckless, Joseph only has 1200, so one mistake and he's done, and he made the right choice by 'not' attacking."

"Why's that?" Chumley asked.

"Because Joseph is facing off against Chazz's Chthonian monsters, and those monsters are all about causing damage to the opponent when they are dealt damage." She said, nodding towards the Chthonian Soldier. "Chthonian Soldier causes the same amount of damage the owner of that card feels onto the opponent, so if you caused five hundred points in damage to your opponent, then 'you' take five hundred points."

She looked at his maids who were sitting defiantly and in defense mode, glad that he'd erred on the side of caution.

"With 3000 attack points, if Lorpar or Tinkhec attacked Chthonian Soldier, they would have dealt 1800 points of damage to Chazz, and dealt the same amount to Joseph, losing the duel for him. Even without Dragonmaid Welcome's effect, if Nudyarl his weakest dragon attacked Chthonian soldier, he would have still suffered 1400 points of damage, meaning he'd lose. Joseph has never fought Chthonian cards, else he wouldn't have bothered transforming his dragons just to get around sending Kitchen back to the hand, he lucked out by being overly cautious this time, but he's still in the danger zone, cause if Chazz ever gets the chance, he'll gladly send his soldier to its demise if it ends the duel in his victory. He also made a smart move by keeping their dragon forms in his hand."

"Why's that?" Syrus asked now.

"Because his Dragon's dragon forms have unique abilities that can be activated by discording them to the graveyard, 'that's' what makes his Dragonmaids so powerful, you can activate their effects, send them to the graveyard, and bring them back onto the field and then back into the hand to repeat the cycle with no cost to you. I got a good look at his cards earlier, so I got a general gist of how they work… I just hope he knows them better than I do with my one time look at them."

On the field again, Chazz was smirking as he watched Joseph squirm.

"Alright Joseph, time to show you how out of your league you 'really' are…" He said as he drew his next card. "Well, whatya know… I activate the magic card Chthonian Alliance from my hand and equip it to Chthonian Soldier! With this magic card in play, for every monster on my side of the field that shares its name, it gains 800 attack points, including itself. Next, I'll summon 'another' Chthonian Soldier from my hand, the one I just drew, giving me 'two'.

As he played his two cards another Chthonian Soldier appeared and the first one grew in size 'and' power, bringing its attack points to 2800.

"And now I play another card, this one is a trap that you conveniently believed was meant for you, but instead was for me… I told you that this is the big leagues, and now you'll see why!" He said cockily. "I activate the Seal of the Chthonian trap card!"

On the field the card face down revealed itself, with the image of a Chthonian Soldier with several binds around its arms and several talismans on its armor.

"What does that card do?" He asked.

"Well since you're a novice I'll explain it in simple words even a dumdum like you can understand. If I have one or more Chthonian Soldiers on my side of the field in attack mode, then I can lower one of your monster's defense points to zero and negate their effects for the duration of my turn for each one, and one of my Chthonian Soldiers can attack 'twice' this turn! In other words…" He said as the trap effect took hold, causing Parlor and Kitchen to be bound in chains and seals, struggling pathetically as their defense points dropped to 0. "GAME OVER, ATTACK!"

"I activate my spell card's effect, since I have three Dragonmaids on my side of the field, I can call back one dragonmaid card from the graveyard to my hand, and I choose Dragonmaid Ernus!"

Quickly, all three of his maids turned and pointed a finger at his graveyard, causing draconic energy to hit it and Ernus to be extracted.

"Next, I play Dragonmaid Nudyarl from my hand onto the field in attack mode and bring Laundry back into my hand!"

Laundry nodded and vanished to be replaced by her Dragonmaid form, roaring in furry and glaring at Chazz.

"Big deal, Chthonian Soldier destroy Parlor Dragonmaid!"

The weaker Chthonian flung forward and slashed at the defenseless Parlor, causing her to scream and vanish in a wave of wind and destruction.

With one of his maids gone, the other maids lost their power by a hundred points, bringing Nudyarl to 2800.

"Next I send my stronger Chthonian Soldier to slaughter your bound and helpless kitchen maid!"

The larger Chthonian Soldier charged forward and slashed at Kitchen, causing her to scream and be slain, sent to the graveyard. With her destruction Nudyarl lost another 100 points, bringing her down to 2700.

"My math aint off today slacker, so have a hundred points of damage, courtesy of my Chthonian Soldier who still has a second attack, slay his dragon and take him down!"

Chthonian Soldier slashed down Nudyarl who screamed in agony as she was destroyed, and Joseph's life points took another hit.

[Chazz Princeton – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 1100]

"And with no monsters left, guess who's still on the field with an attack?" Chazz asked with a maniacal laugh. "House Dragonmaid, end this duel and take out your 'former master'!"

With a regretful look on her face, House obeyed, creating a circle with her fingers and blowing her draconic flame through it from her mouth, causing a large ball of fire to erupt and shoot for him.

"I activate my quick play effect and my quick play spell from my hand, Dragonmaid Ernus and Dragonmaid Sendoff!" He declared, playing the cards as fast as he could before the attack could connect.

"Tooo late!" Chazz yelled as the attack exploded. "YOU LOSE FRESHMAN!"

As the smoke erupted however, instead of a defeated Joseph, stood a proud and defiantly staring Dragonmaid Lorpar, her feathery body sitting behind Joseph and shielding him with her reptilian wings. Next to him sat Parlor Dragonmaid, in defense mode and breathing a sigh of relief.

"What, how did she survive that, how did 'you' survive that? And how do you have 'two' monsters on the field now?"

"Dragonmaid Sendoff and Ernus are quick play effects, that when activated, allow me to special summon dragonmaids to the field, one in defense and the other however I wish. First, I played Ernus, who after discarding her to the graveyard, allowed me to special summon one level 4 or below Dragonmaid monster onto the field, and I still have Laundry and Nurse in my hand!"

"Next came Sendoff, if I have a Dragonmaid monster on the field, I can summon another dragonmaid card from my hand if it's a different name in defense mode, and the monster I summoned cannot be destroyed in battle 'or' by card effects until the end of the turn. When that comes, the monster I summoned is returned to my hand." He said calmly.

"So, when I sent Ernus to the grave, I special summoned Nurse Dragonmaid to my field from my hand, that's when 'her' effect took place, and she special summoned another Dragonmaid monster that's level four or below from my grave, and I chose Parlor. In order to activate Sendoff's effect, I picked Nurse Dragonmaid to send to the hand and I special summoned Lorpar who I managed to keep thanks to you blocking Parlor from changing. You attacked me directly, but I used Lorpar to block your attack and keep Parlor from harm. Now you see 'why' I love and treasure these girls; they are always beside me and will come to my defense no matter what."

"Grrr fine, so you buy yourself another turn, but next round I'm finishing you off once and for all!" Chazz yelled. "I end my turn!"

"We'll see…" Joseph muttered as Lorpar left the field to be sent to the hand. "My draw…"

He looked at the card he drew.

[Spring of Rebirth]

"I activate the Spring of Rebirth Magic Card!" He said, playing the magic card Alexis gave him.

"Huh… that card?" Chazz asked in surprise.

"Yea… I got this card from a friend I made today… her name's Alexis Rhodes, and she told me that not 'all' Obelisk Blue students are pompous jerks." He said, glancing at said friend, who not only smiled back at him, but blushed as well. "So, let's show off the power of my Dragonmaids for her, girls put on a show and show off what you can do for her and my fellow slifer slackers, as Chazz calls us!"

'You've got it master!' He heard them all say.

"I summon Nurse Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

From the field a new Dragonmaid appeared, this time a maid dressed in a pink and white nurse themed maid outfit, with a slim pink and white draconic tail, short pink and lavender wings, frilly yellow horns, with draconic pink/white/lavender shoes, pinkish white stockings and short pink hair. She stood up and glanced at him with a warm and welcoming look and said, 'Oh master, you're so injured, shall I give you a quick one over?'

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

"Maybe later, but first do your stuff, and bring out Kitchen Dragonmaid for me please?"

She nodded and warmly turned toward him, pointed a finger at his disk, and sent out a beam of pinkish-lavender draconic energy at the graveyard, causing Kitchen to be drawn out and played on the field. Kitchen appeared on the field in attack mode with a warm if somewhat 'malicious' grin as she looked at Chazz.

'Time to get cooking master, would you like some spices with that victory I promise?'

"First thing's first, I activate my Dragonmaid Welcome's effect, you know the rules and so do I, I ask my girls to bring back Dragonmaid Ernus!"

With his command all three maids smiled and aimed an Emerald-green, Crimson-red, and Pinkish-lavender beams of draconic energy at his graveyard, and Ernus was called back to his hand.

"Ernus, activate your effect, I discard you and bring out Laundry Dragonmaid from my hand! I'll also discard Lorpar and have her target your stronger Chthonian Soldier! To disable whatever its ability is!"

After Ernus was discarded, Laundry appeared on the field, growling fiercely, if also cutely. 'Let's clean his field out Master~!"

On Chazz's side of the field, Lorpar appeared and roared at his stronger Chthonian Soldier, sending a stream of emerald flame at it and burning it down. He grimaced and watched as the monster wearily raised its sword for battle, but its effects were deactivated.

'All done master, the door to victory is open for you!' Lorpar said as she vanished.

"Next I'll enter the 'battle' phase, Dragonmaids Transform!"

As one all 'four' of his Dragonmaids, Parlor, Laundry, Kitchen and nurse, glowed and transformed into their true dragon forms, with Nurse becoming a gentle looking, pink and white dragon with a white nurse's hat, pink and lavender reptilian wings, a smooth slender pink/white tail, and flat pink/white feet with little lavender toes and spikes along her body.

"Gaaaaah…" Chazz yelled in fear as all 'four' of the dragons glared at him.

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

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

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

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

"And don't forget Dragonmaid Welcome is 'still' on the field, so all of my dragons get an additional 100 points for 'each' Dragonmaid monster on my side of the field, and I count 'four'!"

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, 3000 Atk, 2000 Def]

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, 3100 Atk, 2100 Def]

[Dragonmaid Tinkhec, 3100 Atk, 2100 Def]

[Dragonmaid Ernus, 3000 Atk, 2000 Def]

"And because 'four' monsters returned to my hand from the field, Spring of rebirth gives me 500 life points for 'each'!"

All four of his maids turned to him and released a gentle burst of draconic flame at the Spring of Rebirth magic card, and it in turn converted it into a flowing spring of lapis lazuli blue water, which flowed onto him and caused his life points to go up by 2000 points.

[Chazz Princeton – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 3100]

"That's impossible!" Chazz screamed in shock, watching the duel slipping from his control.

"First thing's first, Dragonmaid Lorpar, free House Dragonmaid from her servitude, and destroy her in battle!"

Lorpar opened her mouth and sent a fiery hot burst of emerald flame at House Dragonmaid, causing her to flinch and smile as she welcomed her destruction, vanishing in the flame.

"Sorry girl but it had to be done…" He muttered as he planted House into the graveyard.

[Chazz Princeton – 3900 / Joseph Takara – 3100]

"Time for Dragonmaid number 2, Tinkhec, destroy the stronger Chthonian Soldier!"

She roared in furry as she opened her mouth and unleashed a powerful jet of Crimson-red flame upon her target, and destroyed the Chthonian soldier, causing more damage to Chazz's life points.

[Chazz Princeton – 3600 / Joseph Takara – 3100]

"Dragonmaid number 3, Ernus, give his remaining Chthonian Soldier a taste of 'your' power!"

Despite how cute, warm and cuddly Ernus was on the outside, she roared in fierce rage and unleashed a pink-lavender flame of vengeance on the Chthonian Soldier before her, dealing even more damage to Chazz's life points.

[Chazz Princeton – 1400 / Joseph Takara – 3100]

"Grrr, you're an idiot you know that… when Chthonian Soldier is destroyed in battle and I lose life points, you take the 'same' amount as me in damage!"

Chthonian Soldier's blade was flung across the field through the ball of fire to smack into Joseph, and he grimaced as his life points took the hit.

[Chazz Princeton – 1400 / Joseph Takara – 900]

"Good thing I still 'have' life points to spare… but you don't… because I still have 'another' Dragonmaid on the field… and Nudyarl has a bit of a grudge to settle!"

Chazz looked on in horror as Nudyarl growled fiercely at him, blue draconic flame erupting from her mouth as she barely contained it, just waiting for the attack order.

"No way… this can't be… I can't lose to a Slifer Red, I'M AN OBELISK BLUE!"

"Before I attack let me say 'thank you', for teaching me that your dorm doesn't dictate your skill level. You may have been the best in prep school, but now you've shown me that we 'all' have room to improve and grow… I know I can grow, and I thank you for teaching me important lessons here."

"Grrr SHUT UP! YOU JUST GOT LUCKY!" He snapped back.

"Well then if that's how you feel, then you got 'unlucky' with dueling me tonight… Nudyarl, finish him off for me girl!" He yelled.

'With pleasure master!' She yelled joyously, sending blue flames at Chazz and engulfing him in her destructive furry.

"Graaaaaaaaaah!" Chazz screamed as his life points tanked.

[Chazz Princeton – 0 / Joseph Takara – 900]

His Dragonmaids snarled and huffed before turning away, not even 'deigning' to look at him, let alone bow in gratitude for the duel as they did with Doctor Crowler before their holograms vanished as the duel ended.

From the sidelines Sheou applauded, standing behind Chazz and next to the brief case that Chazz had flaunted earlier. "Congratulations young master, you've won the duel!" She said sweetly and proudly.

"Huh, when did she get behind us?" Chazz's friend said.

"How did she get there?"

She smiled at Chazz and picked up the briefcase to hold in her two hands. "I'm sorry Chazz, but as you have lost the duel, the terms of our agreement are now fulfilled, and Joseph takes the contents of this briefcase…" She said, glancing at him. "If he so chooses that is."

"He can keep the cards and money Sheou, I don't need any of them." He said sternly, and she nodded and placed the briefcase back near Chazz. "I'm happy with the cards I've got… he can have all the rare cards he wants, and I don't need his money, he can keep them."

She nodded and walked away to stand by Joseph, looking back at Chazz as he got up. "I'm sorry Chazz for deceiving you, but even 'if' you had won, I would not have served as your personal maid."

"What?" He muttered angrily.

In response she slipped a hand into her dress and pulled out a piece of parchment to show them, "This contract has been signed by my previous master, Joseph's grandfather before he died, in it the terms of my service state that I am to serve Joseph's family as his personal maid so long as one of them carries the House Dragonmaid Card." She said warmly. "Even 'if' you had won the duel, my contract is binding, meaning even if I agree I am still not permitted to serve another besides Joseph or a member of his bloodline. Please forgive me for my deception, but I could not risk Joseph losing the duel and thus losing the Dragonmaid cards he carries." She glanced at him with a loving smile now, "Those cards belong to him, and him alone."

"Grrr. FINE, keep your stinking cards and keep your ugly maid, I don't need any of them… I'm outa here… this isn't over though between us…" Chazz complained as he got up and left with his friends, but not before Alexis had her piece.

"He's a disgrace to all Obelisks…" She muttered.

"Not all of them, thanks again Alexis for the cards, without them I would have probably lost…" He said turning to Alexis as he climbed down.

"No problem… now let's get going before Campus Security finds us… or we'll all get in trouble."

"Why would we get in trouble, aren't we all students here?"

"It states in the rules that no off hour duels are permitted past bedtime, especially 'here' in the duel arena. If we get caught, we could get expelled!" She said.

"Well then let's get outa here!" Chumley said, and with that they all started leaving, with Sheou just walking along elegantly behind them wearing a smile.

Alexis looked around first, since she was an Obelisk Blue she could use her status to warn them to stay back and hide, but as she turned the corner she saw there was nobody around, causing her to question where campus security was. 'Where are they, normally they'd be patrolling this area at this hour, in fact they should have passed by at least 'twice' according to Zane.'

(Earlier during the duel)

"Huh… do the janitors clean at this hour?" The lead security guard asked as they paused at the corridor leading to the Obelisk Blue arena which was lit up in the distance.

On the floor was a 'stop/no entry' sign, which featured five chibi looking feminine dragons wearing safety hats and all holding up a cartoon sign that said 'Sorry, wet floor, please do not approach'.

"I guess so, well let's get going guys, got more floors to patrol." The second guy said.

(Back with Joseph and Company)

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading to bed like right now…" Chumley said.

"Chumley, you spent all day asleep practically." Syrus said with a yawn. "But same goes for me, I need to sleep after all this excitement. "Hey Joseph, we're ganna go on ahead alright?"

"Sure thing Sy!" He said as his buddies walked off to the Slifer Red dorm.

As they walked off, he turned to Alexis seeing as she was still there and obviously wanting a few words with him before going to bed herself.

"Joseph, I want to say congrats on kicking Chazz's butt, he really needed to be kicked down a peg, and I'm glad it was you who did it." She said proudly.

"No kidding, I'm just glad I won… also glad he didn't defeat me using House Dragonmaid, she was tearing herself up inside on the field whenever she attacked me." He said, taking her card out and looking at her smiling expression. "She never likes turning against me, especially being used against me… it hurts her a lot more than it does me, I'm just glad she didn't suffer too much this time."

"Why would you think your monster was hurting inside, it's just a card isn't it?"

"Oh… uh… well…" He muttered nervously.

"Is this another, you don't want to share it cause it looks weird to others thing?" She asked with a smile. "If you tell me, I promise not to think your weird, and I promise to keep it a secret between friends."

"Alright… but don't think I'm 'too' weird…" He muttered, to which she nodded. "Sometimes my Dragonmaids appear as spirits to me, and we can talk to one another."

"Really?" She asked curiously.

"Yea… like… sometimes say Lorpar appears and comments about how say, someone was holding her too close to their face and says they forgot to shower. Or Tinkhec says how Professor Banner's cooking smells good, but says she still cooks way better." He explained, taking their cards out and looking at them, even as their spirit forms appeared and watched them. "Like I said, weird…"

"I don't think so." She said, causing him to look at her. "Like you told Chazz, you love and treasure those girls, that's why they're always besides you, because you love them and treasure them. So, if you say they talk to you and you talk to them, then there's nothing wrong with that. Even if I can't see them, if you say they're right there beside you, then I believe you and don't think you're weird. Some duelists think that way about their cards, and there's nothing wrong with thinking that way yourself."

He chuckled embarrassingly before nodding and thanking her for saying she doesn't think he's weird.

"Well, I better get going to bed… see you in class tomorrow Joseph!" She said as she left him.

"Thanks… see you tomorrow!" And turned to walk back to the dorms as well.

'I like Alexis more now, she's very nice… she's also cute… still not as cute as Master Joseph is to us.' Tinkhec said.

'Mhmm!'

'Ditto!'

'So, you ganna date her master?' Lorpar asked him sweetly.

"What?!"

'Come ooon she's cute, and pretty, and not to mention she's totally into you, I saw how she was blushing during that duel when you complimented her!' Tinkhec laughed.

'Go for her master, she's totally your type!' Nudyarl said in agreement.

"It's not even my second day here, I can't go dating someone like Alexis of all girls, she's an Obelisk Blue don't forget!"

They all just laughed and kept on saying he should date her, ignoring his indignant calls to leave him alone, while behind him Sheou just walked on diligently.

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=Next Time, Duel in the Shadows of the Abandoned Dorm, Test of the Dragonmaid Master, A Father's Scheme=

"We choose our masters, our masters unite us, we serve them, and they protect us. Only a 'few' may attempt to lay claim to us… for they are Masters… to the Dragonmaids…"

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For those of you who gave me encouragement, thank you very much, that's 'why' I write and that's why I was able to write this one… though this was a bit 'harder' to write because I used jaden v chazz duel as inspiration, and I had to alter some things to make it more interesting considering moves/cards he had in his first hand, and how the Dragonmaids work to make him more threatening to Joseph.

I also changed 1 card that Chazz had, the face down he kept that was Call of the Haunted, I instead made it a 'made up' Chthonian card, like in the anime to compliment his deck and make it like an 'endgame' card for him against Joseph, having planned to use it against him. I'm not much of a yugioh expert, and only know what I know from personal experience… so I hope you all forgive me for that '1' little slip up with the typical 'anime only card/effect' card that the ygo anime pulls from time to time.

You've also learned how he came across the dragonmaid cards. To clarify for some, he inherited House Dragonmaid, and she acted like the magnet/call to the others to join her as his signature monsters/cards. They'd leave themselves in places where he'd find them, and so in turn they came to him, instead of him finding them on his own.

Plus, Joseph I hope is proving the mc you all would like, a novice/inexperienced duelist with the potential to grow and who learns from his duels. As you saw, he learned 'not' to go big right off the bat and instead feel his opponent out, while Chazz is a jerk (both in anime and my story) he did teach my MC that going big can be a surefire way to go home.

Someone who reviewed my story suggested a card for him, and while I had an idea with it I decided a different card that worked similarly but was more ideal for his immediate need. Joseph's deck consists of the dragonmaids, cards that can easily pull themselves from the graveyard and even send themselves to the graveyard to do it, so drawing cards is not an issue, what he lacks is a way to recover life points on the fly during his opponent's turns. That's why Alexis gave him the Numinous Healer and Spring of Rebirth, since spring compliments the maids ability to return to the hand not once but 'twice' per turn 'per' maid, and numinous healer provides

For those of you wondering also, he has only 1 of each dragonmaid monster, but multiples of the spells/traps, for now his deck consists of…

Laundry, Kitchen, Parlor, Nurse, Chamber, House Dragonmaid x 1 of each for a total of 6.

Dragonmaid Nudyarl, Tinkhec, Lorpar, and Ernus (chamber has no dragon form at, but if she gets one soon, I'll include her as well.) For a total of 4

Dragonmaid Hospitality, Tidying, Changeover, Sendoff, Welcome, and Downtime x3 of each for total of 18.

Numinous Healer x 3

United we Stand x 1

Spring of Rebirth x 1

Graceful Charity x 1

Pot of Greed x 1

Trap Hole x 1

Monster Reborn x 1

Draining Shield x 1

Mirror Force x 1

Soul of the Pure x 3

For a grand total of 41, if you guys who read would like to suggest a card to add to his deck that would complement/augment his deck or fits the theme of his Dragonmaids (aka being girly dragons that return to the hand/field) go ahead and suggest them in your review, and which duel would you like to see Joseph have, since based on my story some of the anime episodes are getting skipped/scrapped altogether, there's room for a new duel/side story chapter.

My next chapter however is going to be for Pokemon Arceus' Book, it needs love… so for now, thanks for enjoying/reading my first YGO Fanfiction…

Next ygo chapter though when I 'do' write it… one of his dragonmaids is being taken hostage and threatened in a 'shadow duel' -wink wink if you know the anime you know what I mean-, along with one of Joseph's friends for high stakes~!