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.

17. Chapter 16

"Growing up I always believed, always believed... that she'd be there for me, no matter what. That's just how normal it was, after all, after all, why wouldn't one who watched over you for so many years, be there to watch over you long into your life?"

"I never thought that... one day, she would just leave me... it never came to my mind..."

"That first night... I looked to the sky, and looked at the stars and thought... this had to be a dream, if I go to bed, I'll wake up and... she'll be back... if I just go to bed... then I'll wake up from this dream and... she'll be back..."

= Chapter 16 Prologue =

= Chapter 16, Chazz x Joseph vs Jager x Slade =

Seto Kaiba sat in his office staring outside the window as he listened to the proposal that the two 'gentlemen' had brought to him. It was honestly impressive the lengths these two were going to try and buy out his academy, just so they can tear the school down. The money being offered was nearly triple the price he'd invested into the island and academy. Still, he was hardly about to let these two people just walk all over him, money or otherwise, and take what was his that he built from the ground up from scratch!

"No." He said, in his most 'finite' tone he could respectably say.

"No, why are you rejecting our offer, we're offering you triple price what you paid to buy that island and create that academy?" Jagger said, extremely annoyed.

"Do you know how much we spent negotiating this deal just to even 'reach' this point, those lawyers weren't cheap!" Slade said, also glaring at him.

"I understand, but it's not about the money... it's about the cards... that's something you two do not understand. I will only sell you my academy if you can prove your worth as duelists and defeat my my students in a duel!" He declared.

"A duel, are you 'serious'?" Jagger asked. "Is that 'really' how it has to be?"

"That's right, so unless you want to walk out of here empty handed, I suggest you accept my conditions." Kaiba said.

"Fine, but if you set the condition that it's a duel which decides if this sale goes through, then 'I' have a condition myself, we'll make it a double battle, and not only do 'we' pick the opponents, they also are only allowed to use monsters with five hundred or less attack points! And as a final restriction, they aren't allowed to colaborate with each other" Slade said with a grin. "If you're that confident about your students being so good that you'd risk the sale of your academy on them, then surely, they'll win under those conditions, even against a pair of amateurs like us!"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes as he looked back at them, before glaring angrily at them, knowing exactly what they were up to, but he also knew... that his students were up to the task.

"You have two students you have in mind for your duel?"

"Yea, we have two students in mind." Slade said, glancing at his brother with a smirk, who nodded in understanding. "Chazz Princeton, and Joseph Takara."

He was quiet as he heard the names listed, before he nodded as well. "Fine... I accept your terms, now get out."

With that the two Princeton brothers left, leaving Seto and his little brother Mokuba in the room. His little brother frowned as he watched those two leaving. "Big bro, you sure about letting those two duel your academy's students under those conditions?" He asked. "I know your confident but, even if it were you and Yugi, there's no way anyone can win with such weak monsters under those rules!"

"I have every confidence they will win Mokuba."

"But do you think this Joseph and Chazz will be able to even duel, if I remember from that report, Joseph uses the Dragonmaid cards, those monsters are too strong to even be used in this duel under those rules. And this Chazz fellow, his deck is super powerful, so how will they even be able to duel? Not to mention they aren't allowed to collaborate with each other so they can formulate a strategy, and you know their opponents will totally take full advantage of that while using the strongest cards, how can anyone possibly win a duel under those conditions?"

"Hmpf." Kaiba chuckled as he pushed a button on his computer to bring up the data on those two. "You're right Mokuba, they 'will' have an uphill battle ahead of them, in fact under those rules almost 'nobody' could win. But you forget one thing Mokuba. The names of the two students they picked."

He looked at the pictures of the two students on his computer and smiled. "Those two have heavily underestimated their opponents, thinking that such petty restrictions will defeat them."

"You really think so?" Mokuba said as he leaned against the desk and looked at their data they had on the two.

"Joseph Takara's Dragonmaids may be restricted, but he's proven himself to be resourceful when push comes to shove, and during their multiple duels, Chazz has proven to be the only duelist capable of matching Joseph card for card. I have a feeling that no matter what those two try to bring, they'll be grossly disappointed in their performance."

He closed the window and turned to his little brother.

"Mokuba, I have a job I'd like you to do, since those two are going to demand we keep them from collaborating, I want you to head to Duel Academy to watch them and make sure they don't collaborate."

Mokuba hopped off the desk and nodded. "Got it bro! But I really think we should have let them at least collaborate and figure out a strategy together, this duel is going to be hard enough with the rest of the restrictions, but to not even be allowed to work together?"

"We'll see." Seto said as Mokuba walked out.

= The Maids and Brothers, Duel for Duel Academy =

"Alright Joseph, now please explain to the class how to achieve victory in the duel example I've created." Doctor Crowler stated.

Joseph looked at the board and tried his absolute hardest to remember 'everything' about their lesson that day, since he knew Doctor Crowler loved to spring these pop quiz questions on random students that often had only a 'fraction' of what he was teaching that day related to the quiz itself. Today was no exception, as today's lesson was about trap card timings and the various types of trap cards. They'd been learning that Counter Trap cards were basically the 'end all' card when it came to link chains and how effects resolved, the only thing that can activate in response to a counter trap, was basically 'another' counter trap card.

The duel example that Crowler put up had him with three cards face down, a quick play spell called [Chain Strike] a trap card called [Chain Detonation], and finally [Solemn Judgement]

He had in his hand, [Mystical Space Typhoon] and a face down monster called [Skelengel], and the opponent had on his field two face downs and fifteen hundred life points.

"Well, without knowing what the opponent has face down, I need to first flip up Skelengel to begin the chain. From there I activate Chain Detonation, and then, depending on if the opponent activates any of their face downs, I can then activate Chain Strike as a chain link 'four' card, and then use Solemn Judgement to counter any potential trap cards they activate in an attempt to negate my Chain Strike." He said.

"I see, now is there any particular reason why you didn't activate Mystical Space Typhoon in your hand, your opponent has no other cards on the field or in their hand?" Crowler asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhm... uh... oh, right, because of the possibility of a counter trap card. If they attempt to counter my Chain Detonation, I'll need to use Solemn Judgement to ensure that, if necessary, I can use Mystical Space Typhoon to start a new chain and trigger Chain Strike and win the game!"

"Perfect, I'm glad to see you know how Counter Trap cards work, you may be seated now!" Doctor Crowler said as he turned to the board. "As you all know by now, Counter Trap Cards can only be responded to by 'other' Counter Trap Cards, and many Counter Trap Cards often have very strict conditions in order to play them, meaning that for many duelists, an opponent has no response to a Counter Trap Card."

"In addition, when you look at the example here, there are 'two' cards face down and you have no idea if they are Counter Trap cards, you will need to employ a strategy known as 'baiting out' as the term is called, using an effect which will force the opponent to use their card or else. Now there is no correct way to answer this question, one other way to win is starting off with Mystical Typhoon, forcing a response, will also work given how you can win using Chain Detonation and Chain Strike. All you need to do is get Chain Strike to link three when you activate it alongside Chain Detonation, and you will achieve victory."

Joseph sighed in relief as he sat back down, wishing Crowler would give him a rest and let up with the surprise questions, that was the fifth time he was called up in two days to answer a question. He was also glad that class was almost over, and he could just go relax and hang out with his friends in the café, even as his Dragonmaid dragons began appearing around him.

'That's our master, getting the correct answer in a question with no correct answer!' Nudyarl cheered happily.

'Master is so smart!' Tinkhec sighed as she leaned on his shoulder.

'You think he'll ace this quarter at this pace?' Lorpar asked as she flopped onto his head.

'At the rate he's going we'll be in Obelisk Blue next year~!' Ernus said hopefully.

'It was just a simple duel example...' He thought sheepishly as the four dragonnesses sang his praise.

He liked hearing them compliment him, but some days he wished they weren't so... forward with how happy they were with every correct answer he gave. Sure he got that one right, but as Crowler said, there was no 'right' answer to it, and he gave multiple examples like that every lecture. Though as the class continued to take notes, he was at least happy that he felt his scholastic work was paying off. His grades had improved, if ever so slightly, but he was still struggling with Physical Education.

As for his other classes he was showing slight improvement, and as far as he was concerned that was good enough for him, he was just happy to not be lagging behind everyone, especially after recent events.

After he'd recovered in the Infirmary and spoke to Chancellor Shepard about what was going on with the Shadow Duelist, he was given the offer to anonymously transfer to another duel school for his safety.

Shepard had told him that these, 'Shadow Duelists' as they were called, were not going to stop until eventually whoever was sending them was forced to come out and face him themselves. For his safety, he recommended that he be transferred to another school, where he would be safe and could continue his schooling out of harm's way, Duel Academy, as he said, was too well known.

=Flashback=

"With all due respect Chancellor, I'm staying!" Joseph said.

"But my boy, your safety is at stake here, for your own protection if nothing else, please consider the offer." Shepard said. "I understand how hard you worked to get here, and I know how hard you are working to earn your place here. Nobody, not a single soul here, will think less of you for leaving to keep yourself safe. Whoever is sending these Shadow Duelists wants you harmed, in ways beyond your imagination. The Shadow Games are not to be underestimated. Once they get you into a duel the only way to survive is to win, for your safety it would be best to leave Duel Academy!"

"Chancellor Shepard, that is 'why' I'm staying, I understand, I'm putting my life on the line... but I'm not leaving just because my 'father' wants to kill me practically, just so he can get his card back!"

He'd been explained what the Shadow Duelists were after, what these 'Duel Spirits' being summoned to duel on his father's behalf were aiming for, and while everyone could only guess, he knew from experience, who was summoning them and for what purpose. Even if he didn't dare explain that he went to the Duel Spirit world via Sauravis, the Dragon Spirit that invited him.

"I'm carrying the Dragonmaid cards, it doesn't matter where I go, once someone sees the cards being played, I'll be exposed regardless, word will travel, and then I'll be back in the crossfire." He declared, before smiling and glancing back at his friends, who were there with him when the exchange happened. "Besides, if I have friends who say they'll back me up if these Duel Spirits show up looking to duel, then we'll send them packing. They won't know what hit them!"

"Got that right, no way am I letting some jerk claiming to be your dad get to my best bud!" Syrus declared.

"Yea, if he shows up, we'll take him out with the trash... like that pizza I forgot to eat last night." Chumley said.

"Like I'd let anyone scare you out. If anyone is gonna chase you out, it'll be me." Chazz said, trying to look cool.

"Got that right, no way am I letting you get kicked out without a duel." Alexis said with a smile.

"Indeed, besides if you leave, who will I have to surpass here? You're the only duelist whose deck I can't seem to crack." Bastion chuckled.

=Flashback Ends=

He sighed as he looked down at his notes and wrote a few more things, trying to focus on his lesson, even as his mind wandered again to everything that's happened recently. First, he discovers that Shadow Duels are 'real', that they do exist and can happen, and that the damage is real when a 'real' Shadow Duel happens. Then he discovers what happens when one loses a duel, how drained of energy, stamina, and especially courage when he realized how lucky he was to have avoided true punishment for losing a Shadow Duel. Then he had to deal with his own fear, having to accept that he'd lost, how stupid he was for dueling, and then having to learn to regain that courage so that he could... avoid losing again.

Then there was Sauravis, that duel spirit, after being told about them, and learning he had 'four' duel spirits in the forms of his Dragonmaids, and being told how important the situation he was getting into was, it was just so much to sink into his mind. It was just too much at the time, if not for his duel with Sauravis, he probably would have never picked up his deck again after all that information settled.

But he chuckled to himself, as he flipped a page in his book and wrote something down that Crowler said was important, Sauravis did one thing, if nothing else. Sauravis, made him laugh again, despite how 'serious' he made their duel sound, he helped him to have fun again and told him how to deprive his father of ultimate victory. If he can still keep his duel spirit untarnished, and keep him away from claiming his Dragonmaids, he will deny his father no matter what.

'That...' He chuckled as he remembered how 'serious' Sauravis made the wager sound but all he did was poke his nose. 'And who can imagine a dragon wanting to poke a human's nose for no other reason than because he wanted to?'

'Oh maaaaster~!'

He looked up as he heard Tinkhec calling for him, and saw that she was floating in front of him with a big grin on her face.

'Blyeeeeeh!' She said as she made a funny face with her tongue sticking out at him, causing him to chuckle under his breath and smile while shaking his head.

Together Nudyarl, Lorpar and Ernus were laughing as they'd been having fun with him all day, trying to get him to smirk at their antics. He was glad for the distractions and their methods of cheering him up as well. He was super happy with his Dragonmaids, as silly as they were sometimes, they honestly cared about him and well, he just knew that he would 'never' let his father get his hands on them or their cards.

Not while he promised them every day to take care of them and protect them.

*RNNNNG*

"Alright now, class dismissed, remember to complete your homework and put it on my desk in three days, I'm looking at 'you' Slifer Red students, Slifer Slackers the lot of you..." Crowler declared as everyone started getting up and leaving.

He stretched, began packing his things up and started leaving with his classmates, yawning as he could not wait to finish his homework and then hit the bed early tonight. Even as he left and Sheou slipped into place walking behind him, having been seated at the rearmost seat so as to avoid being in the way of the class, but still present there as she continued to be his personal maid.

As he began walking out of the classroom with everyone else, Sheou offered him a small cup of tea that she had been keeping warm throughout the class. How he could only fathom, but he guessed it had something to do with that little 'warmer' she was holding in front of her dress.

"So Joe, where we headed now?" Syrus asked as he caught up with him.

"Where else Sy, to the café to hang out and dig out before we go back to our dorm and work out our homework!"

"I can totally get behind that idea, especially the dig out, I could really go for a giant grilled cheese." Chumley said with a laugh.

"Since you're heading to the café young master, is there anything you and your friends would like that I can inform Kite to make as she might be busy when we arrive?" Sheou asked warmly as they walked outside.

"What was that about getting food at the café?" Alexis asked as she ran up to the group.

"Oh yea, we were just about to go there, you wanna tag along Alexis?"

"Uh duh, like I'd miss out on eating the food there." Alexis said as she smiled and walked in step with them all.

"Don't you eat at Obelisk Blue, like, Obelisk Blue cooking is 'incredible', we all just eat at the café because it's close to where our dorm is, not that Professor Banner can't cook but..." Joseph said sheepishly as he began eating some of Banner's cooking in place of Kite's, especially after she began learning how he grilled and salted fish and tried a similar recipe but for some reason it 'burned' and came out charred black.

This earned everyone at the cafe a scream of despair from the kitchen as everyone could hear her moan that she could 'never' show such a dish to guests, let alone Joseph because of how poor it looked! He didn't know why, even if it looked 'bad' it still tasted good.

"Well can you blame her; Obelisk Blue Food is superb but the café just tastes 'slightly better' for some reason." Chazz said as he and Bastion walked alongside them, surprising the group as they never noticed them.

"And what are you, a culinary expert or something?" Bastion asked with a smirk.

"Heh, I just happen to have eaten the best food in the world, duh." Chazz said as he crossed his arms to look cool while flaunting that he was rich.

It was still funny to Joseph that Chazz was pretending to be a rich kid, despite the fact that he was rich. It was also funny because right at that moment Chazz's own Duel Spirit, Ojama Yellow decided to rear his face in with a cheeky grin.

'Hey boss didja miss me, I know you said keep quiet during your class but come on boss, you have to have missed me right?' Ojama Yellow said happily, which caused Chazz to growl in frustration. 'Hey ladies, didja miss me as well?'

'Grrrrrrrr...' All four of Joseph's Dragonmaids growled in unison with flaming eyes burning with anger.

'What'd I say, all I said was hi-!' He tried to shout but was immediately smothered in four separately colored flames from each of the girls.

When it ended, he coughed up ashes of smoke, before slinking back into hiding behind Chazz.

'Disgusting yellow potato!' Nudyarl growled as she vanished.

'How many times do we need to teach you this lesson?' Lorpar snarled as she vanished as well.

'Only 'master' gets to call us 'ladies' to our faces!' Tinkhec snapped before disappearing.

'The nerve I swear!' Ernus hmpfed as she left as well.

"Heh, this day just got better already." Chazz whispered as they reached the café.

At the café everyone got in their usual seating area reserved for Joseph and his friends, and after a short while Sheou returned from the kitchen with a tray of drinks, informing them that Kite would have their meals prepared shortly, but this time she had quickly gotten into her 'Dragonmaid Uniform', now looking exactly like the House Dragonmaid. Though he probably surmised she just put on a pair of fake horns, wings and a tail as well as her fancy draconic gauntlets because it 'was' after all her uniform while working in the café.

There they just traded words and Joseph had a little practice duel with Chumley, who still struggled with duels but, ever so slowly, was gaining just a 'little' more confidence in himself to duel other people. Even if the only ever victory he had against Joseph was that one time where Joseph basically tutored him and back seat dueled him on how to beat himself and his Dragonmaids. Chazz kept trying to act cool saying he was working on a new deck to finally take Joseph down and take the title of 'Top Freshman' from him and his maids.

Syrus continued to joke around and say 'he' was the best friend here and only after Chazz beat 'him' could he take on Joseph, which Chazz happily grinned saying he could beat Syrus in his sleep. Bastion still told Joseph to keep himself on his toes because he's still analyzing his deck and trying to find a way to completely negate Joseph's maids, admitting that while it is frustrating to beat, he is relishing in the challenge as he views it as an intellectual puzzle.

As for Alexis, aside from Chazz and his Armed Dragons, she was the only one who seemed able to take on Joseph's Dragonmaids using her Cyber Angels. It also always seemed to boil down to their two boss monsters hitting the field at roughly the same time and then duking it out. Whenever House hit the field Cyber Angel Vrash was either there to meet her, or was summoned soon after, and then the two squared off.

Sheou also seemed to enjoy watching the exchanges play out, always finding a reason to just stand behind Joseph and observe when House and Vrash clashed with their effects and attacks. Some times Vrash would emerge victorious, and sometimes it would be House, the two always seemed to be evenly matched with House being able to destroy while Vrash would survive.

"Sorry for the wait everyone, but enjoy your meals courtesy of Maid of the Dragon's Café!" Kite declared as she walked out with Lora helping her carry the plates of food.

"Oh, sweet I am so starving!" Chumley said as he immediately started digging in.

"Slow down Chumley, we all have appetites we want to use!" Syrus complained.

"Hey pass the salt someone!" Joseph asked.

"No complaints here." Chazz muttered.

While they all ate Sheou happily just stood by the table, content as ever to observe and wait to see if she was needed. Occasionally Joseph or one of his friends would ask for something like a refill on a drink, or even seconds when they were about to finish eating, and Sheou would nod and either inform Kite to make seconds, or refill their drinks.

During their time the other girls began showing up to help around the café, Amber Luna and Sun were helping random students with their orders alongside Kite and Lora, chatting with the occasional boy, and giggling as sometimes they were asked out by boys but each time turning them down. They also were in full uniform as well, their dragonmaid cosplay outfits looked so real that if Joseph didn't know any better, he'd thought they were 'real' tails, wings, horns and everything else.

'I wonder how long they spent making those outfits.' He thought to himself as he continued to chow down.

All in all it was a pretty good end to the school day, and he hoped it would last.

The door to the café opened and the little bell chimed, causing Lora to quickly walk over, cheerfully bow and say, "Welcome to the Maid of the Dragon's Café, we hope you enjoy our hospitality! Please follow me, I'll seat you and then hand you a menu!"

"Maybe later, but right now I was told I could find Joseph Takara and Chazz Princeton here." A voice told her.

Hearing his name, he looked up and quickly coughed as he quickly swallowed his food wrongly as he saw none other than Mokuba Kaiba standing in the doorway. Mokuba looked over and grinned as he spotted them at their table and walked past Lora, who began to look nervous alongside some of the other girls as they noticed him now even as Sheou turned and politely stepped aside to allow Mokuba to move over and address them.

"There you two are, I was told I would find you two here, my name's Mokuba Kaiba, nice to meet you two."

"Uh... hi Mokuba... uhm... can I help you?" He said nervously.

"Yea, when you guys are done, I need you and Mr. Princeton to follow me to Chancellor Shepard's office, we need to talk about your school." Mokuba said seriously. "Rest assured, you aren't in trouble and neither of you are being expelled or something like that."

"What's going on with our school if we're being called to Chancellor Shepard?" Chazz asked with a glare.

"It's got something to do with your school's fate being decided in a duel, as I said when you two are finished, we can go there." Mokuba explained.

"Well, if it's that important, we might as well go now." Chazz said as he nodded to Joseph.

"Alright, let's go." He replied, nodding in agreement.

"Wait, are you serious, Shepard isn't expecting us for like, another hour, I said it would take me a while to find you, I didn't realize this café was here so I figured I'd be looking all over for you." Mokuba said as both Chazz and Joseph got up and began edging out.

"If it's important, it can't wait. Especially if Shepard is calling on the two best freshman in the school to help." He declared.

"Who said you were the second-best freshman Chazz?" Alexis grinned. "You forget, me and Bastion were also in the running for that duel against you in the School Duel. But I would have agreed with Fontaine when she told me what she did, Joseph definitely deserved the chance more than me to represent the school as a Slifer Red, though I wish we could have had a duel to settle that debate."

"Indeed, imagine that, a three-way duel between the three of us, that's a conundrum of a duel if ever I can think of it. Though I am glad that it was just you and me, you were a nightmare to come up with a strategy to win on your own, but dueling you 'and' Alexis together?"

"Gyeeer..." Chazz growled as Joseph chuckled while walking with Mokuba.

As they left Sheou glanced at his and Chazz's plates and sighed, before calling upon Lora and Kite to their dishes and have them taken care of while she went to follow Joseph. When asked why by Bastion, Alexis, Syrus and Chumley, she said "It's a maid's duty to stay by her master until she is dismissed, even if her master forgets to dismiss her sometimes to run off without her."

With that she left, instructing Amber to tend to their remaining guests and be their dedicated maid while leaving, even as Lora and Kite took the dishes away to clean them off.

At the main building, Joseph and Chazz walked with Mokuba all the way from the café to the academy, classes were still in session at least for another hour, but he and his friends were out for the rest of that day. They marched up the stairs, across some isles and along a now becoming very familiar path to where Chancellor Shepard's office is.

Inside, they were greeted by a very solemn looking Chancellor.

"Gentlemen, sorry to call you here on such short notice, especially you young Joseph, as I know your probably growing tired of being called here, but the school needs your help once again." Shepard told them.

"Well, we're here, so what's up Chancellor?" Joseph asked.

"You see young lads, someone is attempting to... 'buy out' Duel Academy." He said nervously.

"Buy out Duel Academy, gimme a break, what do they think they are going to accomplish, change how the public lunchroom gives out food?" Chazz asked incredulously.

"You see, they plan to shut down Duel Academy forever, and they plan to do that by getting rid of all the students and teachers here. As well as smash down all of the facilities and everything else."

"Hold on, that's just not right, isn't there like, some kind of rule or regulation or 'something' involved to prevent anyone from just doing that at the drop of a hat?" Joseph exclaimed.

"Yea, as a matter of fact there is, but these guys basically went through every legal trick to make it possible, the only thing stopping them is my big brother." Mokuba said with a frown. "The only thing stopping the deal from going through is my brother saying he will only sell them the academy if they prove their worth as duelists and defeat you two in a duel."

"Indeed, our owner has given us a sporting chance... it all comes down to 'one' duel, a tag team duel. For some reason they demanded you two specifically." Shepard said as he looked at the two of them.

A knock on the door sounded and everyone turned to see as Sheou opened the door slowly, bowing humbly at her entrance, before walking over to stand behind Joseph.

"Please forgive me young master, but you left the café so suddenly without dismissing me or inviting me along." She said politely. "I beg of you your pardon, but as your loyal maid, I must remain by your side until dismissed for the day, regardless of your reasoning or where you are going, my place is by your side."

He sighed as he knew the 'real' reason she was there. "And the fact that me being called to Chancellor Shepard's office so suddenly 'again' had nothing to do with it?" He asked her.

"Maybe a little..." She replied with a heartwarming smile.

At that moment the phone began ringing and Shepard looked at it with a frown.

"I believe this is those people I mentioned before now..." He said as he pushed the button, turned around and watched the tv screen turn on to reveal two very familiar but unwelcomed faces.

"You two?" Chazz shouted angrily. "You're trying to buy out Duel Academy?"

"Chazz's brothers?" Joseph asked with just as much distaste.

[That's right little brother, did you miss us, I know we haven't spoken in a while, but you can at least leave us a phone call with our secretaries!] Jager said with a smirk.

"Grrr, you lousy scrubs, what do you want with the academy?"

[Have you already forgotten, the same thing.] Slade said.

[Complete world domination!]

[Remember, it was our 'family project!] Jagger said.

"Yea, 'you're' family project maybe, I never wanted anything to do with it!" Chazz snarled.

[Yea well now it 'has' to be our project, because 'you' couldn't uphold your end of the plan.] Jagger growled.

[Yea, you couldn't pull your weight, you couldn't even do something so simple as conquer the world of dueling, so now, the two of us will have to do it for you!] Slade declared. [You're the biggest disappointment of our family, so we're going to snuff you out so you don't tarnish our reputation any further. When you lose this duel, you're no longer going to be able to keep the Princeton Name, we'll make sure of it!]

[And don't think we've forgotten 'you' you little punk Takara, your maid made a mistake when she 'dared' step out of line and threatened 'us'.] Jagger said with a glare. [It's such a pity, you worked so hard to get into Duel Academy, all of that studying, all of that work, everything you did to even 'qualify' to take the entrance exam. When this duel is over, you can kiss your dreams goodbye, and you can blame your little 'maid' for that slap, and yourself for daring to get in our way!]

"Like that'll ever happen, lest you forget who you're talking to, I was picked to represent all of Duel Academy in the school duel, and Chazz did the same for North Academy. Between the two of us, we are going to roll over a pair of amateurs like you two without even breaking a sweat." Joseph said confidently.

"Got that right, taking on the two of us, you two made mistakes but this is your biggest business mistake yet." Chazz said with a grin. "I appreciate you bringing in Joseph though, but honestly, you might as well make it a two on one duel, I can beat you two down with my eyes closed in my sleep!"

"Way to sell me short Chazz..." Joseph muttered.

"No problem." Chazz replied.

[Wrong, because there's a few conditions to this duel that you two need to be made aware of.] Jagger said with a sadistic grin as he pulled up a suit case to open up, showing them all the cards that were sitting inside of it. [First off, 'we' get to use all of these rare cards, the same rare cards that we offered Chazz in the school duel with you, but he 'refused' to use them, and because of that he LOST!]

[Second, we picked you two specifically, because of how you humiliated our family. You Chazz, because how dare you, a Princeton, ever lose to the likes of a nobody scum like this wannabe here. You failed time and time again, and we don't tolerate failure in our family. You Joseph, because how 'dare' you make our family look like failures on live-time television, and how 'dare' you even think that you could stand up to us!] Slade declared with a furious look in his eyes.

[Third, and this is the best part, you two are not allowed to use ANY Monsters that have more than five hundred attack points!] Jagger now said with a cruel smile.

"Five Hundred?" Joseph proclaimed.

"This is ridiculous!" Chazz snarled.

[But that's not all, not only do you have to abide by those rules, but you two aren't allowed to work together, or collaborate until the duel begins, so if you had any ideas of formulating a plan to try and beat us, you can kiss 'those' plans goodbye!]

"You're kidding me!" Joseph said.

"You get to use all of those rare cards, you picked us specifically for a tag duel, we can't use any monsters with more than five hundred attack points, 'and' we can't work together to even strategize until the duel begins tomorrow?" Chazz asked with a glare.

[Yea, under normal circumstances, nobody would accept these terms, but your academy's owner seems to think you can win under those terms. It's already been decided... now either you duel tomorrow, or you forfeit and 'we' get to shut down your pathetic academy once and for all!] Slade said.

"That is 'totally not fair'!" Joseph exclaimed incredulously. "That is... that's not even stacking the deck, that's literally making it as unfair as possible for us to even 'duel'. Let alone win..."

[You're right, it isn't fair... but then again, that's the point!] Jagger told them.

[Mhmhmahaha HAHAHAHA!] Both of them laughed before the call ended.

"Guess we should go and pack our bags then..." Chazz muttered bitterly as he turned and began to walk out.

"Hey, Chazz where are you going, I know it looks bad but we still have to duel, we can't just give up without trying!" Joseph said as he couldn't believe Chazz would just walk away without even a fight!

"Get real Joseph... there's no way we can win... Duel Academy is toast..." Chazz muttered as he looked at him, but Joseph could see the anger and 'frustration' in his eyes.

Even as he turned back around, Joseph could tell that Chazz 'did' want to duel, he wanted to fight, but as he walked out something was just wrong with how he left. It was like, he couldn't believe that he was being 'forced' to give up before the first card was even drawn.

"Oh my..." Sheou muttered quietly.

"Yea, oh my indeed..." Joseph agreed as he walked out after Chazz to try and catch up with him.

Outside of Shepard's office Chazz was just strolling through the hallways and corridors, trying to be alone, stewing as the news about tomorrow's big duel was announced and even hearing from Chazz himself that he'd already given up. Word had begun spreading that Chazz had given up, that he was deliberately trying to lose so his brothers could tear down Duel Academy. And when those rumors started, all of the bitterness and resentment toward him came back as students muttered behind his back every which way he went.

"Did you hear, Chazz has already given up!"

"I knew we should never have let him come back to Duel Academy."

"He probably wants his brothers to win."

"To think he's dragging everyone down with him after everything he's done."

"Totally, should have booted him back to North Academy without even a second's thought."

Chazz just ignored them all, he didn't care about them, they didn't understand... maybe Joseph would, if he understood what those conditions meant to him.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but you all should shut up and lay off him." Joseph declared from behind him.

Joseph was walking up with a smirk while his maid humbly smiled with her hands clasped before her, dutifully walking behind him and matching his pace so she never stepped in front of him once.

"Chazz is one of the strongest duelists I've ever met, in fact they probably don't come any tougher than him, nobody has given me a run for my money like Chazz Princeton. And I should know, I've dueled him myself, plenty of times. And if anyone is going to duel beside me, I'm glad it's Chazz!"

Chazz glared at him, nice as it was, this wasn't the time to stroke his ego, not that Joseph would realize that.

"Yea, I know I'm tough, that's the point! That is exactly the problem Joseph!"

"I don't get it, what's wrong with being tough?" Joseph asked in confusion.

"Indeed, normally when your tough that's a good thing." Alexis called out as she and Bastion walked up with Syrus behind.

"Yea, all data points to that being a net positive, being a great duelist who's strong is typically something everyone wants to aspire to become." Bastion proclaimed.

"Yea, you're making no sense... what's wrong with being tough?" Syrus asked.

"Look guys, you don't get it, it's-"

"It's about the fact that Chazz is too tough, specifically his deck... it's about Chazz... not even being allowed to duel." Zane said as he walked into the circle of students. "You see little bro, Alexis, Bastion, Joseph... Chazz's deck is too strong for this duel. His deck isn't built with cards that make use of monsters with five hundred or less attack points."

"Wait... you mean..." Joseph began saying as he realized, Zane had a massive point.

"Yea... all of those other conditions I could live with, but because of that one rule, my entire deck is worthless... all I've got left to use... is 'him'!" Chazz grunted as he pulled out the one damn card that he 'hated' to even have, let alone now had to rely upon for this one duel.

[Ojama Yellow, lvl 2, Light Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 0 Atk / 1000 Def]

As if grinning with excitement, Ojama Yellow appeared in the middle of everyone, unseen by them except Joseph and Chazz, grinning and giggling as he did his happy dance.

"Gyeaaah..." Was everyone's reaction to seeing the card.

"One card... you can't make a deck with just one card." Joseph proclaimed.

"Like you're better off, remember that rule applies to 'your' deck, but where I'm stuck with one, you get five times what I have." Chazz muttered as he put away his card.

"Wait... you're right... I can only use my Dragonmaids 'maid' forms, their dragon forms are off limits in this duel." Joseph proclaimed as he pulled out his cards and realized just how serious the situation was.

All of his monsters, with exception to the five maids, not counting House, were too strong. Zane's Cyber Dragons, his Dragonmaid Dragons, Masked Dragon, they were all too powerful. Only the Dragonmaid maids had barely enough attack points to remain qualified. Even as he pulled them out, as if desperately hoping his math was wrong, his Dragonmaids came out with depressed and angry looks on their faces.

'How can we possibly win without our dragon forms?' Nudyarl complained.

'Master can't duel like this, it's impossible!' Lorpar moaned.

'Because of that condition we can't even summon out the boss...'Tinkhec whispered fearfully.

'We were in tough situations before, but this takes the cake and then some...' Ernus whined.

He had to agree with them as he looked at his deck now, without the Cyber Dragons, the Masked Dragons, or the Dragonmaid Dragons and especially House Dragonmaid, his deck was now 'sorely' lacking in anything he could fight with. Five monsters do not equal a strong deck.

"And don't forget..." Mokuba shouted as he now showed up as well, with Sheou humbly bowing and moving aside to let him stand in the center of attention. "Not only do you have to do that, you also can't work together until the duel tomorrow, I'm here to make sure you two stay apart and don't collaborate until then... sorry, if it weren't for my big bro telling me to do it, I would just turn a blind eye and let you two be."

He slumped his shoulders as he looked at his monsters again, now the duel really was being stacked against him and Chazz. Their monsters were taken from them, their 'teamwork' was being denied to them, and they had to win tomorrow's duel or else their school would be shut down?

"I hate to interrupt but... there might just be a way to even the odds." A polite voice called out, and Joseph and Chazz turned to see Professor Banner sitting on a nearby staircase with his cat Pharoh in his lap, petting him. "This is just a rumor, but given the circumstances it might just be worth checking it out. Now listen closely children, for you see, deep in the forest out back resides an old dried up well where a great many cards lie in wait, discarded by students who have thrown away these duel monsters cards that they deemed too were weak to be used in their decks."

He smirked with that usual 'Banner smile' that Joseph had come to see a few times, but he and Chazz were listening carefully.

"Now the spirits of these cards, are very angry at being left behind..."

"Oh yea, well the Chazz has a feeling they're ganna be perking up real soon, cause I'm ganna find that well and enlist some new monsters for my deck, and take down my brothers with them." Chazz declared as he turned to Joseph. "I'll head on to the well, you go back to your dorm or something and work on your deck."

"Uh, excuse me, Chazz, I know you like to think your all that, but I need help with my deck as well. I can't duel with a deck of only five monsters either remember?" Joseph proclaimed.

"Uh hello, did you forget, because of that 'rule' my brothers implemented, we can't work together on our decks, if you go with me, you'll be violating that rule, remember?" Chazz said, but his eyes narrowed at that. "So 'I'll' head to the well to work on 'my' deck, and 'you' go to your dorm room or something, and work on 'your' deck."

Joseph only hesitated for a moment before 'nodding' in acceptance, turning to Mokuba and saying, "Well, since I can't follow Chazz, would you like to tag with me to me and my buddies' room to crash for a bit? I need to work on my deck after all..."

"Sure, no problem." Mokuba said with a grin. "Honestly this is going to be interesting, I can't see any way you guys can possibly win this with those restrictions in place, but my brother said, if anyone can it would be students of his academy."

So, with that decided, Joseph and his friends returned to their dorm so he could work on his deck, while Chazz went on to the well. Their dorm was now getting very cramped as Sheou continued to follow and assist Joseph with anything he may want or need, and she had chosen to feed Joseph and his friends a quick lunchin while he worked on his deck at the table.

"Man, you guys sure have it crowded in here." Mokuba proclaimed as he sat next to Joseph while he poured over his random collection of hand-me-down cards.

"Eh, it is a little cramped in here with like, 'five' people yea, but it has its charms." Joseph said as he sighed at his collection of cards. "At least it doesn't get hot in here like before, and at least we have air conditioning now."

As he was saying that Sheou, by some miracle, was able to slip into the room and begin pouring tea for everyone in the room, including Joseph, Mokuba, Syrus and Chumley, with Syrus and Chumley sitting on their beds so that there was 'some' wiggle room in their dorm.

"Ugh, this stinks, almost all of my junk monsters are too strong... I don't even have a Kuriboh to add to my deck." Joseph complained as he continued sorting his cards between 'monsters' and 'spells/traps'. "My weakest monsters are the maids, I got nothing else, everything is just a little too high for the duel."

"So how are you going to duel Joseph, if you can't summon any monsters what can you do?" Syrus asked.

"Yea, that is so not licious if you can't even duel." Chumley agreed.

He sighed as he honestly had no idea what to do, all of his monsters were practically worthless, many of them had terrible effects or even confusing effects like [Dark Artist] who couldn't even be used to begin with since his attack power was 600.

"This really stinks!" Joseph muttered as he took a swig of tea to try and think of how he could rebuild his deck for this duel.

"Perhaps you're looking at it the wrong way master?" Sheou asked hopefully. "Do you 'need' to use those monsters in your deck?"

"Well, I mean, no but, how can I possibly duel with only five monsters in my deck?" He asked himself as his dragonmaids began appearing around him again.

'This is quite the puzzle we have master.' Nudyarl muttered as she appeared to flop onto Joseph's shoulder, right as Sheou chose to leave.

'Without our dragon forms we're practically helpless.' Tinkhec muttered from Joseph's shoulder.

'At least he 'can' use us.' Lorpar said as she floated over the desk to look at Joseph's cards.

'And hey, at least our master can use our magic and trap cards, so that's a positive right?' Ernus said hopefully as she sat in Joseph's lap to look at the cards as well.

"Hmmm..." He whispered as he looked at his cards again, and realized Ernus had a point. Nudyarl and Tinkhec were right in that his deck was now lacking in its best attackers and most useful monsters, but Lorpar and Ernus were right in that he still could use his maids and his Dragonmaid spells and traps were still available to him. Hospitality's secondary effect wasn't available to him, but it still could do what he needed it to do, and technically his maids could still do their thing to an extent as well.

He could only 'figure' what Slade and Jagger would bring, but if they were anything like Chazz, and especially knowing the restrictions they put on the two of them, then those two would probably bring out a ton of powerful monsters. Amateurs or not, they would see the weak monsters he and Chazz would bring and just barrel into them without much worry. Not like they 'had' much to worry about considering at best, even if he 'could' get his Dragonmaids into position, the best he could do is give them 1500 extra attack and defense points using three [Dragonmaid Welcome] spell cards. That meant at best his maids would only get to 2000 attack points, plus maybe 4000 more with [United We Stand], but again, that was 'if' everything went perfectly.

'Wait a minute...' He thought as he remembered something, something that Sauravis told him when he focused so much on the power of his maids.

'There are more ways to duel then just brute forcing your way through everything...' He remembered the spirit dragon said after he was making the finishing blow.

"I think I have an idea..." He said as he began rummaging through his various spells and traps.

'What's the idea Master?' Tinkhec asked as she watched with the other Dragonmaids while he began pulling out random cards and looking at the cards he still had access to from his old deck.

"What's your idea Joseph?" Chumley asked as well.

"Just wait and see." He said as he began formulating a strategy, remembering how 'Tag Duels' worked from seeing them on tv during the Battle City Tournament.

'I like it when master comes up with a plan!' Lorpar said cheerfully.

'Master's so awesome when he uses his brain!' Ernus agreed.

'Smart, handsome, what's not to love for a Dragonmaid~!' Nudyarl giggled.

'Do they have to act like this...' He thought to himself as the dragonmaids snickered and began leaving him so he can focus on his deck for the duel the next day.

He looked over several of his old cards that he never really used because of how weak they seemed, at least regarding the spells and traps. But now that he had to rely on cards that he otherwise would never have used before in his mostly Dragonmaid focused deck, seeing their effects were now very effective for his game plan. He also noticed some of the cards he had as hand-me-downs were also cards used by Sauravis and other duelists, so he knew how they worked and how to play them. Just as he was about to finalize his deck, he noticed one last card buried in all of the other cards. Glancing at it, he decided to add it to his deck as well, thinking it might be useful.

With that, he and Mokuba went to the café to eat dinner with the others, and eventually night time came, calling for all students to go to bed.

The next day, the air was tense as students gathered in the main dueling hall, down on the field Joseph and Chazz were staring off against his brothers Slade and Jagger. Everyone knew this duel was going to be important, not just for them but for the whole school, every student, teacher, faculty member, security guard, everyone was counting on Joseph and Chazz to win and keep the school open.

At the same time everyone was watching the two of them getting ready, Alexis, Syrus, Bastion, Chumley and Zane were picking out good seats to watch the action, with all of them questioning what Joseph's plan was with his deck, and how Chazz and Joseph could possibly win with the restrictions.

"So, you didn't get a good look at the cards Joseph added to his deck?" Alexis asked.

"No, there isn't exactly a lot of room to stand around in our dorm remember?" Syrus complained.

"Yea it's not like we coulda stood over his shoulder and checked it out, especially since Mokuba was there 'and' Sheou came back to bring us all refreshments before we headed over to the café to eat." Chumley also said.

"Well, if I know Joseph and Chazz, they probably came up with their own plans. Just going on the fact that Chazz went to the well to get some new monsters, then Chazz must have picked up several monsters for his new deck, and if you said Joseph's hand-me-down monsters were unqualified, then Joseph probably focused on a deck of magic and trap cards." Bastion predicted.

"If that is the case, then they're both going to struggle, the only way they can possibly win is to present a unified front against Chazz's brothers." Zane also predicted. "But since that restriction preventing them from collaborating was in effect, the best they can do is just try to 'think' what the other will do, and go from there, and that is in itself a massive gamble, and with the stakes so high, and the deck stacked against them, gambling is not a good thing to do at this time."

After a few more minutes Mokuba Kaiba walked in between the seats to sit among Joseph's friends.

"So, predictions?" Mokuba asked.

"Predictions, Joseph and Chazz win obviously." Alexis said with a frown.

"Yea, I kind of figured that, all things considered, but I'm just curious as to 'how' these two are going to win." Mokuba said, "With everything being made, there is no way they can possibly win, I doubt even my brother and Yugi could win under these conditions."

"Yea, well they better... because otherwise, our school gets shut down..." Alexis muttered worriedly as the duel was about to start.

[Attention Duelists, today's matchup determines the fate of Duel Academy, our matchup, representing Duel Academy and the hopes of keeping the school open, are Joseph Takara and Chazz Princeton of Slifer Red. Their opponents, looking to close the school down permanently, are Jagger Princeton and Slade Princeton. Duelists, ready your decks!] The announcer said. [In accordance with Tag Team Rules, the rules are as follows, each duelist will receive 4000 life points, the team with no remaining players is the losing team. During the each duelists' first turn, no duelist is allowed to make an attack on any other. Both players may use whatever cards are available on their partner's side, but only if the conditions for the cards are met, no duelist may use their own monster to block for their partner if a direct attack is made. You may begin when ready!]

Down on the field Slade and Jagger were grinning as they prepared to duel. "Ready to throwdown you two, if you surrender now, we'll give you time to pack your bags before the wrecking crews show up!"

"Does 'this' look like we're running away?" Chazz shouted defiantly as he and Joseph readied their duel disks.

"Heh, fine with us, let's get this started!" Slade shouted out.

"Bring it on!" Joseph declared.

Instantly everyone readied their duel disks, activated them, shuffled their decks, and the opening hands were given.

"There's only one way to settle the turn order... and that's to flip the coin... bro, if you would." Jagger said.

"My pleasure..." Slade said as he took a coin out of his pocket, and flipped it. "Call it!"

"I say Heads!" Chazz shouted.

The coin landed in front of them and Joseph groaned, 'tails'.

"Oh well, looks like 'we' get to go first, you can keep the coin, we have plenty more." Jagger said. "I'll start this duel off, then Chazz can go next, Slade will be third, and last will be Joseph... everyone set, good, let's begin!"

"DUEL!" everyone shouted and life points were set.

[Joseph – 4000 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Heh, I draw, and I'll start this duel off with this card, Lord of Dragons in attack mode!"

Joseph watched as Lord of D appeared on the opponent's side of the field, rising to the field from his card, before flinging his cape behind him.

[Lord of D, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Effect Monster, 1200 Atk / 1100 Def]

"And now that he's on the field, I activate the magic card, the Flute of Summoning Dragons! This lets me special summon 'two' Dragon type monsters from my hand to the field, as long as Lord of Dragons is on the field that is, and guess who 'is' on the field?"

On the field a draconic flute appeared, which Lord of D. grabbed with one hand, put to his mouth and released a powerful note.

"Now that my flute has been played, I summon to the field, Seleglare the Luminous Lunar Dragon, and Luster Dragon Number two!"

The first dragon to appear was this sparkling blue dragon that sparkled and glimmered from above, casting everything in a luminous light, the second was this greenish hue'd dragon with emerald-like scales that spread its wings wide and roared as it appeared on the field.

[Luster Dragon #2, lvl 6, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Normal Monster, 2400 Atk / 1400 Def]

[Seleglare the Luminous Lunar Dragon, lvl 6, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1000 Def]

Joseph was actually impressed by how pretty the monsters were, he would have said something to compliment the duelist who summoned them, if it weren't for the fact that their opponents were trying to shut down their school.

"Now I'll play 'one' card face down, and 'that' is how you open a duel." Jagger said with a smirk. "Good luck little bro..."

"Heh, whatever, I draw!" Chazz declared as he drew now.

"Yea, and now I activate my trap card... Light of Intervention!" Jagger yelled out, right as the holographic trap flipped up on the field. "Due to this trap card's effect, nobody in this duel is allowed to play their monsters face down, oh well, if you were hoping to surprise us, too bad."

Chazz looked only slightly annoyed as he declared, "Fine, I wasn't planning on hiding anyway... I summon Soul Tiger, in defense mode!"

On the field a blue flaming tiger roared from its card and glared at the opposition, sitting in a defensive posture and ready to pounce.

[Soul Tiger, lvl 4, Earth Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 0 atk / 2100 Def]

"Next I'll play one card face down, and that'll do it for now!" Chazz said confidently.

"That's all... well this'll be easier to win then." Slade declared as he drew his card now. "Heh, well this will be fun, first off, I summon to the field, Luster Dragon!"

On the field a blue sapphire scaled dragon roared as is glared at Joseph and Chazz.

[Luster Dragon, lvl 4, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Normal Monster, 1900 Atk / 1600 Def]

"And next I'll play, a spell card you know as Polymerization! Mind if I borrow your monster 'bro'?" Slade asked.

"No problem, let's show these flunkies how 'real' duelists play." Jagger replied.

"I fuse my brother's Lord of Dragons on the field, with 'my' Divine Dragon Ragnorok in my hand to fusion summon..."

On the field the spell card appeared, and then a monster appeared, this white serpentine dragon also appeared, but not for long as both it and Lord of Dragons were pulled into a vortex.

"King Dragoon!"

On the field the fusion form of Divine Dragon Ragnorok and Lord of Dragons appeared, it appeared to be Lord of Dragon's upper body with a serpentine-dragon-like body complete with tail, legs and even a matching cape and flowing aura of power as it appeared, with a Flute of Summoning Dragon held in its right hand.

[King Dragoon, lvl 7, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1100 Def]

[King Dragoon is a Monster card that protects all Dragon Monsters on your side of the field from being targeted by the opponent, and allows you to special summon one Dragon type monster from your hand, once per turn.]

"And now that he's on the field, King Dragoon gives 'both' of us a unique effect, since he was created from both of our monsters, his special ability can be used by both of us." Slade said with a smirk.

"Once per turn, each of us can use his power to special summon 'one' Dragon monster from our hands to the field without a sacrifice." Jagger continued. "Show them what we mean Slade."

"With pleasure, I activate King Dragoon's effect, now I can special summon from my hand... TRI-HORNED DRAGON!"

King Dragon placed the lip of his flute and blew a powerful tune, and on the field a new monster appeared in a flash of light, a blue scaled behemoth-like dragon with multiple yellow spiked horns, yellow spiked claws and toes with red scales to match its menacing red eyes.

[Tri-Horned Dragon, lvl 8, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Normal Monster, 2850 Atk / 2350 Def]

Up in the stands students were muttering and gasping in surprise at just the odds their two representatives were facing in this duel, but it was Joseph and Chazz's group of friends who were feeling the pressure most as they watched their pals taking the heat for every student and teacher in the academy in this duel.

"Well, so much for the defensive benefit that Chazz's monster gives him, this duel is completely rigged, this is an almost a mathematical impossibility to win." Bastion proclaimed.

"Yea, it's not even Joseph's Turn and both he and Chazz are staring down five monsters, each with near 2000 attack points or more." Alexis said.

"How are they going to win this?" Chumley asked nervously.

"I don't know Chumley, but if anyone can, it's those two." Syrus muttered.

In the teacher's section of the stands, Shepard was looking worried as his students stared down these powerful monsters, with only a 'single' monster to defend them.

"This isn't looking good." Shepard muttered.

"Indeed Shepard, but we have to have faith that Joseph and Chazz will prevail. They 'are' among our best duelists here in my opinion, humble as it is." Banner muttered as he pet his cat.

"Yes, and if I know Joseph, he 'will' have some kind of plan." Crowler declared. "This will be a very good test for him all things considered."

"A good test, you have that much confidence in young Joseph?" Shepard asked in surprise.

"You forget Shepard, I've been pushing that boy since the start of the school year, all that homework I assigned him wasn't for nothing, it's to help broaden his mind and teach him everything he needs to become a great duelist. And Chazz is no slouch either, the two of them are a perfect match to work together."

"Indeed, but for now, let us see what Joseph does this turn." Banner said.

Back down on the field, Joseph gulped as he drew his first card, looked at his hand and grimaced.

[Dragonmaid Downtime, Dragonmaid Sendoff, Threatening Roar, Solemn Wishes, Waboku, Counter Gate]

He groaned as he looked at the opposition, it wasn't ideal and he really had no hope of doing anything else this turn but...

"I play five cards face down and end my turn!"

On the field five holographic cards appeared before him face down, and with that, everyone in the stands collectively groaned in despair.

"That's it, that was 'it'?" Syrus asked incredulously.

"He didn't even summon a maid!" Chumley shouted in confusion.

"He must have had a bad hand..." Alexis reasoned.

"No, I think Joseph played this duel a lot smarter than you are giving him credit for." Zane told the others. "That was actually the best he could do, and if he did what I think he did, then he must have a plan of some kind."

"Beg your pardon?" Bastion asked.

Zane looked down at the field and analyzed what Joseph had done. "Let's just assume that we all know exactly how Joseph is going to duel, stripped of his Dragonmaids' dragon forms, he has no way to fight back against monsters that will rip apart his maids in their weakened state. But, since he still will try to use them, he would have stacked his deck with several magic and trap cards."

"I see now, so then he will use those Magic and Trap cards to tip the balance in his and Chazz's favor." Bastion continued.

"Exactly, and Joseph 'knows' he's got a big target on his back, and this is a tag duel, the rules are different in tag duels." Zane said as he pointed out the turn orders now. "Joseph was forced to go last, whoever goes 'last' in a tag duel is at the greatest risk, as they'll have to endure two turns of their opponents being able to work together while 'they' wait to make a move. Since Joseph has to go last, planting five face downs is his best plan... and honestly, we shouldn't be surprised, given how limited his monster choices are, if he even had one in his hand."

"Yea... with only five maids at 'best' in his deck, even with only forty cards in his deck, the odds of getting one of those five maids in his opening hand are extremely slim." Bastion stated as Jagger began to take his turn.

Jagger smirked as he drew his card. "Hehehe, this is going to be fun, because now I get to use King Dragoon's effect, and with his effect, I special summon... Tyrant Dragon!"

On the field King Dragoon once more blew his flute of summoning dragons to summon a 'new' monster, a rusty brown scaled Dragon that spread its wings and roared.

[Tyrant Dragon, lvl 8, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2900 Atk / 2500 Def]

Chazz grunted as all 'six' monsters took up attack formation. "Six monsters?" He yelled.

"Congratulations bro, you know how to add, but how's your subtraction?" Jagger asked. "Because with 'King Dragoon' on our field, we can both use him to attack on either of our turns since he's a combination of both of our monsters. And since I control 'three' monsters already, that means I can wipe out your only defender, and wipe out both YOUR life points, and a chunk of your friend."

"And when 'you' lose Chazz, I get to take my turn, and I'll finish off Joseph on 'my' turn before he can take his turn." Slade smirked.

"ROAAAAAWR!" Soul Tiger screamed loudly at that exact moment, resulting in a massive wave of powerful waves pushing all six of the dragons back and resulting in them shielding themselves however they could.

"Grr what the, what just happened?" Jagger muttered as he looked at Chazz's field, but saw nothing else on the field. "Whatever, I initiate the battle phase, King Dragoon take out that Soul Tiger!"

King Dragoon however refused to, almost like it was unable to even lift its arm as it shuddered in fear.

"What's going on, why won't my monster attack?" He asked.

"Oh nothing... nothing's going on except me." Joseph shouted, and everyone looked to see one of his face downs had been triggered.

[Threatening Roar]

He smirked. "Did you forget, this is a tag team duel?" Joseph asked from his field. "Before you could initiate the battle phase, I triggered my trap... now you can't declare an attack this turn."

"Grrr, fine you luck out this turn..."

"Thanks for the save Jo, now I'll take it from here." Chazz said as he drew his next card. "I play the magic card Graceful Charity, which let's me draw three cards and discard two."

Chazz drew his cards and then instantly send three of his monsters to the grave.

[Keeper of the Shrine, Ceremonial Bell, Disciple of Nephthys]

"I summon, Electromagnetic Turtle, in defense mode!"

On the field a turtle that emanated waves of electromagnetism crouched, with its shell shining a light teal color and its tail waving with a little magnet on it.

[Electromagnetic Turtle, lvl 4, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 0 Atk / 1800 Def]

"And then I'll play the magic card, The Dark Door, and as long as this door is open, nobody is allowed to attack with more than one monster per battle phase. Then I'll play one card face down, you're up 'bro'."

"Grrr, if you think that slipping out of an easy defeat will turn this duel around, you are dead wrong... I draw, and I activate King Dragoon's effect. Now I special summon, White-Horned Dragon!"

A new dragon appeared on the field, this time a mostly red scaled dragon with large red wings and a beautiful white horn that glowed and glistened with its sharp brilliance.

[White-Horned Dragon, lvl 6, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2200 Atk / 1400 Def]

"And get this, once this card is summoned, I can target up to five spell cards in my opponent's graveyard, and banish them, and for each one I banish, my monster gains 300 attack points. You only have one but that's good enough for me!"

Chazz's Graceful Charity was pulled onto the field and then banished into a swirling vortex, and as it did, White-Horned Dragon's horn glowed in power.

[White-Horned Dragon, 2200 Atk / 1400 Def – 2500 Atk / 1400 Def]

"Now then, I initiate the battle phase! Since I can only attack with one monster, I'll attack you Joseph with TRI-HORNED DRAGON!"

Tri-Horned Dragon roared and charged forward with all 2850 attack points seeking to devastate Joseph's life points, but instantly two trap cards flipped up and a gate appeared.

"What? What is this?"

"It's Counter Gate, with this Trap Card, I can negate one direct attack from my opponent's monster, and then if I do negate it, I get to draw a card, and if it is a monster, I can normal summon it... I also activated my other trap card, Solemn Wishes, every time I draw a card I gain 500 life points, so let's go!" Joseph declared as Tri-Horned Dragon backed off. "Alright, attack negated, now I draw..."

Joseph drew and grimaced again, [Negate Attack]

It wasn't one of his Dragonmaids, he was at least grateful it was his Negate Attack trap card, but he desperately needed a maid, his traps couldn't protect him and Chazz forever.

"Well, it aint a monster, but I at least get to keep the five hundred life point boost."

[Joseph – 4500 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"You are starting to become a major annoyance... how 'dare' you waste our time with these stalling tactics." Slade declared.

"I mean, what do you expect me to do, you took away all of my monsters... but hey, at least it's my turn now." Joseph chuckled with a smile as he drew his next card. "Which triggers my trap card to give me more life points."

[Joseph – 5000 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

[Dragon Shrine]

He smiled; it wasn't a maid but it was the next best thing.

"I play the magic card, Dragon Shrine, this lets me send 'one' Dragon type monster from my deck to the grave... so I'll send Parlor Dragonmaid to the graveyard." He declared as Parlor's card was extracted and he sent her to the grave. "Next I play a card face down and end my turn, you're up."

"Which means its 'my' turn! I draw..." Jagger said as he drew his card. "Heh, nice. I use King Dragoon's effect to special summon to my field, Magna-Slash Dragon!"

Once more King Dragoon blew his flute and a new dragon appeared on Jagger's side of the field, and yet another Dragon appeared. This time, a dragon with silverish wings that glinted with sharpness and a light blue coloring to its scales roared onto the field.

[Magna-Slash Dragon, Lvl 6, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1200 Def]

"But he won't be here for long, because now I tribute him to summon, Tiger Dragon!"

Magna-Slash Dragon vanished as he was tributed for the summon of yet 'another' Dragon, this time a dragon akin to that of a tiger, complete with color scheme, tails, and even a tuft of fur for its tails.

[Tiger Dragon, lvl 6, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1800 Def]

[Tiger Dragon, is a dragon type monster that, when it is tribute summoned, can target up to 2 set cards in the opponent's spell and trap zone, and destroy them.]

"Now that he's been summoned, I think I'll take his effect for a spin, and target two of your face down cards, and since 'YOU' have been annoying us the most Joseph, I'll take down your trap cards."

"I activate the Horn of Heaven Counter Trap Card!" Chazz declared.

A trap card flipped face up on Chazz's field, and instantly a musical note blasted from it, and Tiger Dragon was blasted into smithereens, but at the same time, Electro Magnetic Turtle was sent to the graveyard.

"What the, what happened to my monster?"

"It's the Horn of Heaven trap card, when a monster would be summoned, I can tribute one of my monsters to negate the summon, and then destroy it!" Chazz smirked. "Too bad, but Joseph's cards get to stay on the field to annoy you even longer. They say you can't put a price on happiness, but for one monster, just seeing the frustrated looks on your faces is what I call a steal!"

"Uuuugh... I initiate the-!" Jagger started saying, but from Joseph's side of the field, 'another' of his face downs flipped up, and three maidens in blue robes appeared and held up a charm, casting a light upon the field. "Don't tell me..."

Joseph began smiling as he could just 'feel' Chazz's brothers boiling in rage as he activated his trap card, this time one inspired by his previous duel against the spirit Sauravis. "Sauravis if you can hear me, I owe you a lot..." He muttered. "Sorry Jagger, but now that Waboku is activated, our monsters cannot be destroyed in battle, nor can our life points be damaged... at least for 'this' turn'. Better luck next time."

"Fine, it's your move Chazz..."

Up in the stands Alexis and the others were getting a small picture of the two duelists gameplan for this duel.

"Looks like Zane's hunch was right, Joseph focused his deck build on cards to stall and buy him and Chazz time, while Chazz focused on a deck of mostly monsters and cards to cover for potential weaknesses." Bastion said.

"I have to say I'm impressed; I didn't think those two could have possibly pulled something like that off, I watched Joseph all day and right until it was time for bed, he never once went to visit Chazz so they couldn't have collaborated." Mokuba said. "But I still don't see how those two can possibly win this duel, just look at the field... they're completely outnumbered still, and if they don't hold those two at bay each turn, they'll be wiped out instantly."

"Well, they better have something planned, they can only delay for so long, sooner or later they'll have to take on that barrage of monsters head on." Alexis agreed.

"Yes... but I wonder... can Joseph win using only his maids." Zane asked himself.

Back on the field Chazz drew his card and nodded. "Alright, I play another card face down, and then I'll play, Catnipped Kitty."

A purple cat playfully appeared on the field with a grin, sitting on top of Soul Tiger.

[Catnipped Kitty, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Beast Type, Effect Monster, 0 Atk / 500 Def]

"Now that my cat is on the field, as long as there's another beast type on my field he can't be attacked, and that'll do for now."

"Finally, I draw... and I play the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Dark Door!" Slade shouted.

"I don't think so, I activate the counter trap card, Magic Drain. Now, when you activate a spell card, you can either discard 'one' spell card to negate my trap card's effect, or else your spell card is negated instead and destroyed." Chazz declared as he activated his trap. "So, what'll it be bro, are you going to stop my card, or will it go off?"

"Grrr I can't stop it!" Slade growled in frustration.

"Then I guess your mystical space typhoon goes bye bye!"

The spell card was destroyed and Jagger was 'fuming'. "I attack with my monster, Tri-Horned Dragon, and attack Joseph Directly!"

Again Tri-Horned Dragon charged forward to try and attack Joseph directly, but instead Joseph activated his trap card, Negate Attack.

The attack connected with a swirling barrier, and Joseph took a sigh of relief, "Negate Attack saves me that round... sorry but the attack is over and I'm safe from harm!"

"How long do you think you can 'protect' yourself from our assaults, sooner or later your traps will run out and then you and your school are FINISHED!" Slade shouted from his field.

Joseph sighed as he drew his card, and looked at his card with a sigh of relief.

[Laundry Dragonmaid]

[Joseph – 5500 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"I summon to the field, Laundry Dragonmaid, into defense mode!"

At long last, Joseph played a monster on the field, his first maid Laundry hit the field with a pillar of azure draconic flame.

She crouched onto the field in a defensive posture, tail raised defensively as she smiled upon her appearance. 'Sorry I'm late master, but that deck is 'really' messy...'

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

"Hey I'm doing the best I can girl, don't look at me, they're the ones that made the rules... anyway now that you're on the field, think you can be a sweetie and activate your effect and send the top three cards of the deck to my grave?"

'For you, it's my pleasure to serve!' Laundry said happily as she blasted his duel disk, allowing him to send three cards to the grave.

The cards he sent were, [Mystical Space Typhoon, Mirror Force, Dragonmaid Tidying]

"Uuuugh... Laaaaundry... you're killing me here girl!" He moaned as he saw Mirror Force and Mystical Space Typhoon in the grave.

'Hnnnnng... please forgive me, I didn't mean to...' Laundry moaned tearfully as she knew she fumbled with his deck big time.

"Ugh... well, at least you gave me 'something' to work with. I activate the Dragonmaid Tidying Trap Card in my graveyard, now that it's there, I can banish it, to special summon a maid to my field from my hand or grave, so Parlor Dragonmaid come on down!"

In a pillar of Emerald Draconic fire, Parlor emerged and also took up a defensive position. She glanced over at Laundry with an apologetic expression. 'On a scale of one to ten, how bad was it this time?' Parlor asked sweetly, knowing that look because of how often Laundry messed up with using her effect.

'Eleven...' Laundry whispered sadly.

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

"It's okay Laundry, you did the best you could... but now let a professional take over from here, I activate Parlor's effect, now she can send a Dragonmaid card from my deck to the graveyard, and I pick... Chamber Dragonmaid!"

Parlor nodded and turned to blast his duel disk with her signature energy, Chamber Dragonmaid was extracted and sent to his grave.

"Now I activate my face down card, Dragonmaid Downtime, when this card is activated, I can send a Dragonmaid to my hand from the field, and in exchange I can send either a spell or trap on your field to the hand, or add a Dragonmaid Card to my hand from the deck, and I pick the second effect. So, for now, Parlor, return to the hand and I'll add Nurse Dragonmaid!"

Parlor nodded as his face down trap flipped up and she walked into it. With her back in hand, Nurse was added to his hand now.

[Joseph – 6000 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

He looked down at his field, he had used most of his good traps now, he still had Downtime which was face up, and Solemn Wishes also face up. But other than that, he'd used up everything else. In his hand he had [Nurse Dragonmaid, Parlor Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Sendoff]

'This isn't good, most of my best traps are used up, I can probably stall for one more turn with Send Off, but that's about it, on my next turn I need to get something good, or else what I have planned won't work.' He looked over at Chazz and wished he could talk to Chazz, but this was the best he could do, it's clear their opponents had pre-planned their strategy ahead of time, while he and Chazz had to wing it from start to finish. 'I really hope Chazz has something in mind to take down these guys, I can only stall for so long.'

"Hmmm, well I play a card face down and end my turn."

"Back to me... I DRAW!" Jagger said, and he grinned as he saw what it was. "Perfect... with this, your puny little defense will be at an end... but FIRST! I initiate the battle phase, and start my attack on your pathetic little maid!"

'Hngeeeeey!' Laundry squealed in fear as Jagger's monsters began to turn toward her.

"Before I attack, I'm activating the effect of my monster, Seleglare, when 'it's' on the field I can target one of your monsters that has less attack points then it, and then by returning 'it' to my hand, I can take control of your monster... say goodbye to that maid!"

Seleglare began casting a beautiful moonlight glow upon Joseph's side of the field, narrowing it's beam upon Laundry.

'Master do something, save meeee!'

"I counter with the quickplay spell, Dragonmaid Send Off." Joseph declared as he activated his spell card. "This lets me swap a maid on my field with a maid in my hand, so Laundry come back to me girl, and in your place will be Nurse Dragonmaid!"

Laundry nodded and politely curtsied before running as fast as she could into the now flipped face up magic card of Send Off. Once she was safely in, Nurse leapt out, knelt defensively, and stared defiantly against their would-be aggressors.

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

'I'm ready to serve you master, just give me a command!' Nurse declared proudly.

"Now that she's on the field, your monster's target is gone so you can't touch her, and since she's hit the field, I can trigger her effect, which lets me bring level four or below Dragonmaid from the grave back to the field, so come to my field Chamber Dragonmaid!"

Nurse nodded and pointed next to her, and in a pillar of pitch-black draconic fire, Chamber Dragonmaid rose with a twirl of her feather duster, a plucky smile, and a humble bow at her appearance.

'Hmhmhm... so many dragons... if I didn't know any better, I'd say our master had competition... but it's not like they're any match for our master...'

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

"Now that she's hit the field, Chamber Dragonmaid can add a Dragonmaid card to my hand, and I think I'll ask her to give me, Dragonmaid Welcome!"

'Oh master, such a 'simple' task... but who am I to deny you your wish~?'

Chamber smirked as she pointed her finger behind her and blindly blasted his Duel Disk without looking, extracting the card for him.

[Joseph – 6500 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Next, I activate the Dragonmaid Downtime Trap Card, allowing me to add a Dragonmaid monster to my hand from the deck, provided I send one of my maids to the hand, and when I do, I'll add Kitchen Dragonmaid to my hand. Chamber, you did well girl, take five for me!"

'Well, if master insists...' Chamber said in a fake sigh of despair, walking into the Downtime card and vanishing, and afterwards Kitchen was added to his hand.

[Joseph – 7000 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"So, you went through all that just to stall us out again 'huh'? Well so be it, I haven't officially attacked yet, so I'm still free to declare an attack, too bad for you, but you overreacted. Now I can use my Tyrant Dragon to declare an attack on Chazz's monsters!"

Tyrant Dragon roared as it launched a claw and swiped down Soul Tiger, causing Catnipped Kitty to screech in surprise as it was destroyed.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten about your other monster Chazz, you said I couldn't target it if there was another beast type on your field, but now it's fair game. And don't think your dark door will save you, since I can only use 'one' monster per battle phase, I'll just use Tyrant Dragon's special ability, allowing it to wage a second attack if you 'still' have monsters on the field after it destroys one in battle!"

Tyrant Dragon roared as it swiped down and destroyed Catnipped Kitty with another swipe, causing Chazz to flinch.

Everyone was yelling in surprise as Chazz's first line of defense was now toast, only the spell Dark Door was keeping him safe.

"Next, I play a card face down... you're move 'Chazzy'."

"A face down..." Joseph asked as he looked at the card.

"And if I know them, it's probably something to get rid of my dark door." Chazz said as he looked at his card. "Well, I 'draw'."

"And I activate my face down, Dust Tornado! This will blow one trap or spell card on the field away to the graveyard! So, say goodbye to your Dark Door!"

A tornado of wind appeared on the field and blasted The Dark Door, sending it spiraling up into the ceiling and out of sight.

In the stands everyone was moaning in despair as they knew that one magic card was the only thing keeping Joseph 'and' Chazz safe in this duel, without it, Jagger and Slade's monsters were free to attack without restraint.

"Their last line of defense is gone." Bastion shouted in shock.

"Not good." Syrus moaned.

"Grrg... come on you two, you have to do something!" Alexis whispered fearfully.

"Gyeeg... oh well... I play Unhappy Maiden in Defense Mode, and that'll do it for now!" Chazz declared.

On the field a sad red headed girl wearing raggedy clothes appeared on the field, holding a basket of flowers.

[Unhappy Maiden, lvl 1, light Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Effect Monster, 0 Atk / 100 Def]

"Hah, this duel's almost over, my turn..." Slade said as he drew now. "Well, since I can't destroy your maid, I'll just have my bro use his monster to get yours out of the way, Jagger, if you would be so kind?"

"Delighted, Seleglare, do your thing, return to my hand and get that maid working for 'me' for a turn!"

Seleglare once again cast its powers on Nurse Dragonmaid who stared in horror as she could not stop this effect, but Joseph 'could'.

"I activate my trap card again, I'll take Nurse back into my hand and add Dragonmaid Hospitality from my deck to my hand, quickly girl!"

'But master, if you do that, we won't be protected!' She squealed fearfully.

"It's a risk we gatta take, do it!"

Nurse nodded as she ran into the trap card, her tail waving past just in time as Seleglare's effect narrowed on her, but she vanished in time. Without a target, Seleglare returned to its previous position once more. With the effect done, he added the magic card to his hand.

[Joseph – 7500 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Hah, you are 'so' predictable, but hey, it doesn't matter, she's out of the way now." Slade grinned. "Now what say we have some 'fun' before this duel ends, King Dragoon, take out Chazz's last monster, I'll let Jagger finish 'you' off little bro, but why let him have all of the fun. I can wipe out his last monster and then wipe YOU out in one turn!"

King Dragoon readied its flute and sent a blast of draconic energy searing from it, blasting the Unhappy Maiden and destroying her in one fell swoop.

"Hehehe, now that she's gone, I'll... what?"

"Nyehoh Nyehoh Nyehoh Nyehoh Nyehoh Nyehoh"

Within moments of her destruction, these weird masked creature things floated in and began swarming all of the monsters on Jagger and Slade's field, causing them to gain this weird dark depressed aura.

"What are these things?"

"It's Unhappy Maiden's effect, when she is destroyed by battle and sent to the grave, hundreds of her little 'friends' come in and end the battle phase automatically." Chazz said with a glare.

"Grrg..." Slade said.

"You idiot Slade, you shouldn't have gotten greedy and just wiped Joseph out!" Jagger yelled angrily.

"It wouldn't have mattered if he 'did' attack him, you'll see why soon enough." Chazz said as he nodded to Joseph. "I think that's the end of your turn unless you have something else in mind."

"Fine, whatever, this won't change the outcome at all!" Slade declared.

"My move!" Joseph said as he drew and smiled.

[Graceful Charity]

[Joseph – 8000 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"I play 'my' Graceful Charity spell card, and now I draw three and discard two!"

He drew his three cards and sighed happily.

[Exchange, Dragonmaid Welcome, Monster Reborn]

[Joseph – 8500 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Now I send two cards to the graveyard, and I'll send Chamber and Kitchen Dragonmaid to the graveyard. Next, I activate the magic card, Exchange, now I pick one duelist and we swap one card in our hands with each other." Joseph said.

He played the card on the field and glanced between Jagger and Slade, who both looked in surprise. "Now, I 'could' use this to pick you two, and take one of your 'maaany' strong monsters that you were oh so kind to not let us glimpse in our decks... but instead, I'm picking my partner CHAZZ!"

He pointed at Chazz who only glared with his typical 'too cool for you' glare, but he nodded in acceptance as he and Joseph walked towards each other.

"Alright Chazz, now according to the card, we swap one card with each other, so take your pick." Joseph said as he showed him his hand.

Chazz glanced at them, smirked, before he tenderly picked one of the Dragonmaid Welcome cards, winking at him in understanding.

Now Chazz showed him his only remaining card in his hand and he saw, [Monster Reborn]. Smiling, he took it and nodded gratefully, that was going to come in handy.

With their play done, they returned to their corners and Joseph looked at his hand.

"I activate the magic card, Dragonmaid Hospitality, this lets me special summon into defense mode, a Dragonmaid monster from my hand or grave, and normally I would be able to send a Dragonmaid with a similar attribute but a different level to the grave from my deck, but since I can't do that... all this does is let me special summon Nurse Dragonmaid to the field.

On the field a pastel pillar of draconic fire erupted and Nurse rose up into defense mode once more.

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

'Master, what are you thinking, we needed that welcome card!' Nurse muttered nervously.

Next to him his other Dragonmaids appeared in their dragon forms. 'Yea master, we can't possibly fight without all of them, we need them to protect you!' Nudyarl said worriedly.

"I have a plan girls, just trust me on this... now I activate her effect, letting me special summon a maid to my field from the grave, and I pick Chamber Dragonmaid!"

Again, Chamber appeared on the field, in defense mode, smirking as she twirled her feather duster. 'Master is keeping secrets from us girls, oh what a naughty master he is, whatever is his genius plan?'

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

He smiled as he looked to his maids. "Now I activate Chamber's effect, to have her bring forth 'another' dragonmaid card, would you be nice and give me Another Dragonmaid Welcome card please?"

Chamber chuckled and did as asked, blasting his duel disk and pulling the card out for him.

[Joseph – 9000 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Next I summon Parlor Dragonmaid into defense mode."

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

'What would you like me to do master?' Parlor asked sweetly.

"It would be lovely if you sent Dragonmaid Tidying to the grave!"

Parlor nodded and sweetly blasted his duel disk to send the desired card to the grave.

"And now that it's there, I activate my magic cards, Dragonmaid Welcomes!"

He played two cards on the field, and both Dragonmaid Welcome cards were now in play for him.

"With two Dragonmaid Welcomes on the field, all of my monsters gain power for each Dragonmaid I have on the field, one hundred for each, with two, the effect is doubled. But more importantly, now that I have them, I can ask my girls to do their thing and bring a Dragonmaid card back to my hand from the grave. Girls, I need Sendoff please!"

'Yes Master!' All three of them said before turning and combining their draconic energy to blast his duel disk.

He extracted the card and smiled. "Now I play a card face down, and end my turn!"

[Dragonmaid Welcome Effect x 2]

[Nurse Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 1100 Atk / 2200 Def]

[Parlor Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 1100 Atk / 2300 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 1100 Atk / 2400 Def]

"You are extremely frustrating, and with 9000 life points, we 'have' to get rid of you soon... MY TURN. Sweet, I activate MY Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying one of your Dragonmaid Welcome cards!"

A typhoon blew in again and swung at his field, destroying the Dragonmaid Welcome and weakening the effect.

[Nurse Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 800 Atk / 1900 Def]

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

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 800 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Now I activate my monster's effect, I'm going to have Seleglare remove one of your monsters by sending it to the hand, and having them work for 'me' for a turn. Hehehe, GO!"

Seleglare radiated moonlight energy again, but as it began to focus the light upon his maids, all of them raised their arms out and cast a large burst of Draconic energy that shrouded them, stopping Seleglare from targeting them. After a moment the moonlight energy faded and it returned to normal.

"What happened, why isn't my monster's effect working, and what are your maids doing!"

"Sorry Jagger, but you should have paid more attention in our school duel, but then again that effect 'never' came up, so how could you have known." Chazz said with a grin. "On the turn Dragonmaid Welcome is sent to the graveyard, all Dragonmaid monsters gain a temporary immunity, in which the opponent isn't allowed to target them or destroy them with card effects."

"Wow Chazz, even 'I' forget about that effect sometimes, you really did your homework on my maids in that duel." Joseph complimented him.

"Well of course, how ELSE was I going to beat you?" Chazz snapped.

'He has a point...' Parlor muttered.

'We 'never' get in a situation where that effect comes in handy.' Nurse agreed.

'I guess master's rival knows more about us then we realized.' Chamber stated.

In the stands everyone looked surprised about that effect of Dragonmaid Welcome, even Alexis, who had seen its effects the most firsthand in her duel with Joseph. "Wow, another effect of Welcome? Is there anything his card 'doesn't' do?"

"You learn something new every day." Zane chuckled.

"Oh goody, now I have to add 'that' to my notes, and here I was hoping to spend another week with more than eight hours of sleep per night while I tried to beat Joseph's Dragonmaids for a bet." Bastion said with a slightly depressed chuckle. "Joseph's Dragonmaids sure are tough nuts to crack."

Back on the field Jagger was looking ready to commit murder as once again Joseph's maids and their cards continued to be a nuisance and bar his cards. "Grrr... well if 'that's how you want to play, then so be it, I initiate the battle phase, and first up is going to be Tyrant Dragon, Take out that Chamber Dragonmaid of his!"

Tyrant Dragon roared and charged at Joseph's maids, launched a claw forward and struck Chamber as she grimaced, unable to defend herself from the destructive power of Jagger's monster.

"And don't forget, during the battle phase, if Tyrant Dragon destroys a monster on your field, and you have 'other' monsters, I can use him to attack again! Take out that Parlor Maid!"

Tyrant Dragon roared and launched a second strike on Parlor Dragonmaid now.

Since both maids were in defense mode, he was spared life point damage.

"Now King Dragoon, take out that last maid of his and leave him open to direct attacks!"

King Dragoon pulled his arm back before launching it forward to unleash a blast of energy upon Nurse Dragonmaid, who kept her arms crossed and stared defiantly in the face of her destruction. Joseph glanced over at Chazz and saw he was looking at him, hand hovering over his graveyard, but Joseph ever so subtly shook his head. Chazz nodded in understanding and both looked back as Jagger's monsters prepared to assault him again.

"Now that your exposed, Seleglare, attack his life points directly!"

Seleglare screeched its power and prepared to fire a beam of lunar energy, but Joseph, quick as always, shouted, "I activate Dragonmaid Tyding, by banishing it I can call upon a maid to return to my field from the grave or in my hand. Nurse Dragonmaid, return to the field!"

In a pillar of pastel flame once more, Nurse Dragonmaid rose and knelt protectively in front of Joseph, arms crossed and smiling as she sat before her master once again.

'That was a close one master, we almost let those nasty dragons hurt your precious life points!'

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

"Now that she's on the field, she does her thing once again, Nurse bring back Chamber again for me please!"

Nurse happily obliged as she used her powers to create a pillar of draconic fire next to her, bringing Chamber back to his field into defense mode.

'Deja Vu, they may send us away but we'll always come back just for you~!' Chamber giggled.

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

[Nurse Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 700 Atk / 1800 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 700 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Now that she's on the field do your thing Chamber Dragonmaid! Bring me Hospitality from my deck to the hand."

Chamber nodded and lazily pointed her finger over her shoulder to blast Joseph's duel disk, allowing him to add the card to his hand.

[Joseph – 9500 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Grrg his life points just keep going up!" Slade shouted in frustration.

"That's right, and they'll keep going up until you start taking me more seriously, what's wrong, are my helpless maids too strong for you to beat?" Joseph taunted.

"We'll see how much you're talking when I launch my attack, Seleglare destroy that maid AGAIN!"

Seleglare launched its attack at last and Chamber glared defiantly, rising and launching herself into the attack to take it head on. But since she was still not in attack mode, her destruction meant nothing to Joseph's life points.

"Now Luster Dragon number 2, destroy that Nurse Dragonmaid!"

Luster Dragon roared and attacked Joseph's remaining maid, destroying the helpless Nurse in a cascade of light and emerald breath.

"You may have lucked out in damage, but you won't be holding yourself off forever, I play one card face down to end my turn."

Again, Joseph narrowed his eyes as he stared at the face down. 'Another face down...' He thought worriedly.

Chazz stared at the face down too but he had other things to worry about as he drew his card and smiled. "I play one card face down, then I play the magic card, Card of Demise, so now I can draw until I'm holding 'five' cards, and in five turns, I discard my entire hand..." He said as he drew five cards. "Perfect... I play the magic card, Painful Choice, now I pick five cards bros, and you pick one of them to add to my hand, while the rest go to the graveyard... now here are my five picks, so take your pick Slade!"

[Gem-Turtle, Electro Magnetic Turtle, Spirit of the Breeze, Anti-Aircraft Flower, Thundercrash]

Joseph saw the turtle and glanced at Chazz, who nodded with a smile, Joseph nodded as well and returned his attention to the field so that Slade and Jagger didn't get suspicious.

"Oh wow, look bro, five weak cards from one weak deck... how terrifying." Jagger said.

"Heh, yea, I'm shaking in my boots... I'll let you keep the only one that's not a monster, Thundercrash!"

Chazz smirked as he knew how his brothers acted, they were a pair of idiots, all tough monsters no strategy. "Thanks, I was actually hoping you'd pick that card, but more on that later, I play the magic card, Card Advance... this lets me look at the top five cards and then rearrange them however I wish and then allows me to have an additional tribute summon on top of my normal summon. But since I don't need that, I'll just end my turn with another face down!"

"That's it, that was your big play, heh, whatever if you want to lose then so be it!" Slade shouted as he drew now. "Now I 'could' just wipe you out little bro... but something's telling me that if I don't attack Joseph 'now', I'll regret it later on... so let's get started!"

Joseph again glanced to Chazz, who's hand inched slightly closer to his grave, but Joseph only held up '1' finger to tell him to hold, and Chazz, confused, nodded in acceptance but kept his hand there just in case.

"First off, Luster Dragon, attack Joseph Directly!"

Luster Dragon roared and launched a flaming breath on Joseph who shielded himself from the first battle damage of the game.

[Joseph – 7600 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Now it's your turn King Dragoon!"

King Dragoon launched its attack and Joseph shielded himself once more.

[Joseph – 5200 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"All those life points sure came in handy, but let's get to it, Tri-Horned Dragon take him out!"

Tri-Horned Dragon roared and leapt over to Joseph to strike him with both claws, and struck him hard.

[Joseph – 2350 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"One more attack and you're finished, White-Horned Dragon take out his last monster!"

White Horned Dragon launched a breath of fire and Joseph, at long last, turned to Chazz and nodded.

"I activate Electromagnetic Turtle's special ability!" Chazz yelled as he hit the button on his graveyard, quickly extracting the card and sending it to the banished slot.

Just as White-Horned Dragon was about to finish Joseph off, an electromagnetic field surrounded and shielded him, cast by the now appearing Electromagnetic Turtle on Chazz's field.

"Are you serious, how did you block that attack!"

Chazz smirked as he held up the card, pulling it out of the banished zone before putting it back in. "It's my turtle's special ability, while it's in the grave I can banish it at any time during the battle phase to end it."

"You waited until the last moment to save him, are you 'trying' to lose this duel?" Slade asked incredulously. "Whatever, I play a card face down so my turn is done, your move Joseph, but you only saved yourself a brief reprieve."

Joseph nodded as he drew a card.

[Pot of Greed]

[Joseph – 2850 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"I play the magic card Pot of Greed, now I draw two cards."

[Dragonmaid Downtime, Relay Soul]

[Joseph – 3350 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

He looked at his options before he settled on a plan.

"I play the magic card Dragonmaid Hospitality, now I use it to special summon to the field, Nurse Dragonmaid from my graveyard, and after she's back, I'll have her special summon Kitchen Dragonmaid into defense mode!"

On the field two pillars of Draconic fire erupted, with Nurse Dragonmaid appearing first and then Kitchen after her, both of them smiling humbly in Nurse's case, and smirking as she hit the field in Kitchen's case.

'Welcome to the duel Kitchen.' Nurse said happily.

'Let's spice this duel up!' Kitchen declared.

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

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

"Now I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back to my field Parlor Dragonmaid!"

Parlor emerged from her own pillar of fire, smiling and waving at Joseph.

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

'What would you like me to do master?'

"I need you to send Dragonmaid Changeover to my graveyard please girl."

Parlor nodded as she did as asked, using her draconic energy to send the card he desired into the grave. With it there he then said, "Now I play... my 'second' Monster Reborn!"

"Wait, a 'second', but that's illegal, you can't have more than one monster reborn in any deck!" Jagger yelled.

"Oh, it's legit, you see... this one is my second thanks to Chazz, did you forget when I played Exchange?" Joseph said with a smile. "Now I'll use it to bring Chamber back to my hand.

In a pillar of draconic fire Chamber emerged, twirling her feather duster and smiling.

'Any requests master?'

"Nothing for now girl, but I'm going to need you to leave me for now, as I'm going to activate Dragonmaid Changover to send her back to the hand, and add the card into my hand as well."

Chamber nodded as she vanished, and now the card was added to his hand. "Now I play my face down, Dragonmaid Send Off, so my two maids swap with each other, Nurse on the field and Chamber in my hand, girls do your thing!"

Nurse nodded and returned to his hand, vanishing as she bowed and walked into her card while Chamber walked out in her place, humbly bowed and took up a defensive posture.

"Now that that's done, I'll resummon Nurse and ask my ladies to bring back the magic card Dragonmaid Hospitality from my grave, after that my turn is over."

After all of that effort Joseph's maids were positioned and their stats rose thanks to Dragonmaid Welcome.

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

[Parlor Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 900 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Kitchen Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 900 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 900 Atk / 2200 Def]

"My turn... and I'm getting fed up with you and those damn maids of yours getting in our way, you just spend ALL DUEL doing nothing but playing ring around the Rosie with them, and being an utter nuisance, well I'm DONE dealing with them, so I'm activating my trap card, Dragon's Rage."

[Dragon's Rage]

"With this trap card, even if your monsters are in defense mode, my dragons can eat through them and hit straight to your life points. Next, I use our King Dragoon's effect one more time, to summon out Darkstorm DRAGON!"

On the field a new dragon appeared after King Dragoon played his flute, this one wrapped in a twister of wind and dark energy, it roared and flared its wings while the twister dissipated.

[Darkstorm Dragon, Lvl 8, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Gemini, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 2500 Def]

"Now that I have 'five' monsters to use in battle, I'll start my assault, Tyrant Dragon attack his Parlor Dragonmaid!"

Tyrant Dragon roared and charged the helpless Parlor Dragonmaid who flinched in fear as she was utterly destroyed.

[Joseph – 2550 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

[Nurse Dragonmaid 900 Atk / 2000 Def – 800 Atk / 1900 Def]

[Kitchen Dragonmaid 900 Atk / 2100 Def – 800 Atk / 2000 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 900 Atk / 2200 Def – 800 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Next he'll destroy that Kitchen Dragonmaid!"

He turned his claws on Kitchen who grimaced as she couldn't stop this attack and was also destroyed.

[Joseph – 1650 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

[Nurse Dragonmaid 800 Atk / 1900 Def – 700 Atk / 1800 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 800 Atk / 2100 Def – 700 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Now that their defenses are gone, I attack with King Dragoon to destroy that last maid!"

Nurse could only squeal in fear as she was blasted by King Dragoon and his 2400 attack points, leaving Chamber alone.

[Joseph – 1050 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 700 Atk / 2000 Def – 600 Atk / 1900 Def]

"Well well well, down to one maid, and a measly 1050 life points!" Jagger said, "Let's finish this duelist off, and when 'you're' gone Chazz will be easy game. Seleglare attack his monster!"

Seleglare readied its attack and Joseph braced himself.

"I activate my Electromagnetic Turtle's special ability, I banish my 'second' turtle to activate his effect!" Chazz yelled.

Electromagnetic Turtle appeared on Chazz's field for the second time and attempted to protect Joseph again with its power, but a trap activated on Slade's field. "Nice try Chazz, but this time I'm ready, like it, it's called Divine Wrath, if you activate a monster effect, I can discard one card to negate it!"

Divine Wrath activated its effect and launched a lightning bolt against Chazz's turtle, destroying it before it could save Joseph.

"Now that that's over with, I continue my assault, GO!" Jagger yelled.

Seleglare launched its attack on Chamber Dragonmaid who managed to weather the assault thanks to her invulnerability, but the damage was still dealt to Joseph.

[Joseph – 650 / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"And with less points, I WIN! Darkstorm Dragon attaaaaack!"

Darkstorm Dragon raged upon Chamber and Joseph, envoloping them in a torrential storm of wind and power, covering them up and devastating his life points.

"One down!" Jagger yelled confidently.

"I can hear the wrecking balls getting ready already!" Slade agreed.

Up in the stands everyone was fearing the absolute worst as they saw one of their heroes being defeated before them.

"Joseph!" Alexis yelled.

"Oh no!" Syrus screamed.

"He's fine... right?" Chumley asked hopefully.

"Grrugh..." Bastion whispered fearfully.

Everyone waited as the storm slowly began to dissipate and see the results... but even amid the torrent of power and win, a tiny glowing white orb of light shown through. Slowly, ever so slowly, the attack ended... and it was revealed that...

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

Laundry Dragonmaid was sitting directly next to Joseph, tail wrapped protectively around him, her hands holding a glowing white orb protectively, keeping it sheltered and safe while she stared defiantly at Jagger and Slade.

[Joseph – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Chazz – 4000 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"What, how is that possible, you should be defeated, out, how are you still in this duel?!"

"And where did 'she' come from?"

Joseph smiled as he looked to his side and showed the face down that was now flipped up.

[Relay Soul]

"Relay Soul?" Slade yelled.

"Yep, Relay Soul, I added it just in case as an insurance policy, and now that it's activated, I can special summon a monster from my hand to the field, and once it hits the field, that monster now becomes the new lose condition for me." He declared as he looked at Laundry who smiled warmly at him. "As long as Laundry Dragonmaid is on the field, I stay in this duel no matter how many life points I lose. Even at Zero I'm still in this duel. However, if at any point, Laundry Dragonmaid leaves the field for any reason, I automatically lose the duel."

'Thanks for having faith in me master...' Laundry said with heartwarming eyes that cried happily as she was picked to carry the Relay Soul for him.

"No problem Laundry, I always have faith in you girl, now why don't we give your effect another try?"

Laundry nodded and carefully took three of his cards from his deck and sent them to the grave via her effect.

[Dragonmaid Tidying, Trap Hole, Unity]

He nodded. "Now I activate my Dragonmaid Tidying Trap Card, to revive Nurse Dragonmaid to the field, and she'll bring back Kitchen Dragonmaid!"

On the field next to Chamber and Laundry, Nurse and Kitchen rose to the field with equally proud smiles on their face.

'Lucky Laundry, picked to be the special maid of the duel!' Nurse said happily.

'That's our girl, she's the favorite for a reason.' Kitchen proclaimed.

'And here I was thinking 'I' was the favorite...' Chamber pretended to moan sadly.

"Grr, I end the battle phase, and you're not off the hook yet, since it's the main phase, I can activate Seleglare's effect to remove that maid of yours, and get you out of this duel once and for all!" Jagger screamed.

"I don't think so, I activate my trap card, Solemn Strike!" Chazz yelled. "You used a pretty good trap, let's see how this works for me, I pay 1500 life points to negate your monster's effect and destroy it!"

On Chazz's field the face down flipped up, and struck down Seleglare from Jagger's field, stopping it before it could remove Laundry from the field.

[Joseph – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Chazz – 2500 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

"Uuuugh... this can't be happening, it doesn't matter, you can't keep her safe from us, on Slade's turn he's going to tear your maid apart and get you out of this game, and then he'll turn on YOU Chazz, and once you're both gone, this School's going out of business!"

On the field Nurse Dragonmaid vanished as the turn ended due to the effect of Dragonmaid Tidying.

"I don't think that's going to happen, cause it's my turn now... I Draw!"

Chazz smirked as he drew. "I play Enchanting Fitting Room, and for the cost of 800 life points, I can excavate the top 4 cards of my deck, and special summon all monsters that are level 3 or lower normal monsters, then the rest go into my deck and it gets shuffled."

Four cards appeared on the field and Chazz smiled. "Obviously Ojamandala isn't a monster, but the three Ojama Brothers qualify!"

[Joseph – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Chazz – 1700 = Jagger – 4000 / Slade – 4000]

On the field three new monsters appeared, and Joseph and his maids could only grimace as they beheld.

'Tadaaaaaaa!' All 'three' of the Ojama Brothers declared. 'How's it going everyone!'

[Ojama Yellow, lvl 2, Light Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 0 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Ojama Green, lvl 2, Light Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 0 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Ojama Black, lvl 2, Light Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 0 Atk / 1000 Def]

'Hey everyone, say hello to my brothers!' Ojama Yellow shouted to Joseph and his Dragonmaids.

'Our bro said so many nice things about you ladies~!' Ojama Black said with a grin.

'He was right, you ladies are fabulous indeed!' Ojama Green cackled.

Joseph's Dragonmaids on the other hand... did not appreciate this.

'Oh goody... the yellow potato has brothers...' Chamber muttered.

'First it was a yellow potato, now Chazz has a green asparagus and a black pomegranate as well...' Laundry muttered in disgust.

'I liked Chazz better when he was our arch rival from day one...' Kitchen said bitterly.

The Ojama brothers however were all smiles and proud grins as they turned to Chazz. 'Hey boss, how's it going?'

"Sure, these three dingos look dumb, they're ugly, they smell bad, they never shut up, nobody even likes them to begin with, and they never go away no matter how much I yell at them!" Chazz yelled out as he glared at the three Ojama Brothers. "But if there's one thing that I can appreciate about them, is that they taught me an important and valuable lesson!"

"They did?" Alexis asked in surprise given the tirade of insults he threw at the monsters.

"Really?" Joseph asked as well.

'Like what?' The Dragonmaids all asked in unison.

'That you should always eat desert first?' Ojama Green said.

'Flies always taste great dipped in chocolate?' Ojama Black asked.

'That bathing is always optional?' Ojama Yellow squealed.

Chazz ignored them all and glared at his brothers. "That good brothers support each other, no matter what, through thick and thin, ups and downs, lefts rights and centers, they support each other through everything!"

"Heh, so we're not good bros?" Jagger asked.

"That's right, which means I have NO problems doing this, showing you what REAL bros can do when they work together and support each other." Chazz yelled. "I play a spell card, Ojama Delta Hurricane! Do your thing boys!""

'RIGHTO!' All three Ojamas yelled in unison before they started launching into the air.

'Yellow!'

'Black!'

'Green!'

'COMBINE!' They shouted in unison as they planted their butts together. 'OJAMA DELTA HURRICANE!'

They started giggling and laughing as they all started swirling and spiraling together, their 'hurricane' started to get bigger and bigger, able to encompass everything on the field. Even the Dragonmaids in defense mode were struggling to stay on the ground and keep their dresses from flying around. Laundry had to grip Joseph tightly with her tail just so she didn't go flying while holding onto the Relay Soul still clutched in her hands.

"What the..." Joseph muttered in utter confusion.

After a few moments the Ojamas wrapped around all of Slade's and Jaggers monsters, all of their dragons looking terrified before a massive explosion took place, destroying 'all' of their monsters, but not just their monsters, but any spells or traps they had as well.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Slade yelled in shock.

"Our monsters are all gone... what'd you do?" Jagger demanded.

"It's a thing called Brotherly Love, while the three Ojama Brothers are on the field when Ojama Delta Hurricane is played, all of your cards are automatically destroyed, down to the last face down!" Chazz grinned. "And since you were so nice to make this a 'double duel', that means you 'both' shared in the destruction. How's THAT for a weakling?"

'That's right, time to take them down Boss!'

"You're right, and it all starts here, THUNDER CRASH!" Chazz said as he played Thunder Crash.

The three Ojamas turned to look at the card. 'Huh, uh bros what's Thunder Crash do?' Yellow asked in confusion.

'Don't ask me, I left my reading monocle in the well.' Green replied.

'Let's see, says here... Chazz deals 300 points of damage to an opponent, for... every monster he decides to destroy...' Black said as he read the card out for them.

'Did he say 'destroy'?' Both Yellow and Green asked in fear.

'NO BOSS SAY IT AINT SO!' All three of them screamed in terror.

"Sorry boys, gatta do it, see ya around."

All of them were pleading and begging as they vanished from the field, and Thunder Crash launched its attack on Jagger.

[Joseph – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Chazz – 1700 = Jagger – 3100 / Slade – 4000]

"Gyeeeh, that means nothing, your decks are still filled with pathetic wimplings, meanwhile OURS are still filled with powerful monsters that will tear you apart!" Slade countered.

"Wrong again... cause now I reveal my final face down... Dragonmaid Welcome!"

On the field the last card Chazz had face down was revealed, the Dragonmaid Welcome card that he'd taken from Joseph thanks to Exchange.

As it appeared, the two magic cards, on Joseph and on Chazz's fields began to glow.

"Thanks for the card Joseph, now that 'I' have Dragonmaid Welcome on my field, now I can get its benefits, including the one that Joseph loves to use the most, a power boost for my monsters for each Dragonmaid on my field."

"But you don't have any of them, those are all on..." Jagger said before comprehension began to draw itself onto his face.

He and Slade turned to see all three Dragonmaids smirking as they began to pour their power into the Dragonmaid Welcome on Joseph's field, and it in turn transferred the power to the one on Chazz's field.

"That's right, because Joseph has them, and now that we 'both' have Welcome, now we can share the effect together, and all of our monster's powers get double the benefit because there are two of them. Now I can play this, Chaos Necromancer!"

Chazz played his final card in his hand, and on the field a fiendish looking creature with a cackling grin appeared on the field.

[Chaos Necromancer, lvl 1, Dark Attribute, Fiend Type, Effect Monster, 0 Atk / 0 Def]

"Now comes the best part, he may look weak and pathetic as you said, but he has a nifty effect, for each monster in my graveyard, I get 300 attack points, for Every. Single. One!"

"EACH ONE?" Shepard shouted in shock.

"Impressive." Crowler said with a nod.

"Oh my." Banner agreed.

"So even though I banished my two Electromagnetic Turtles to help Joseph out, I still have '12' monsters in my graveyard, that comes to 3600 attack points, but don't forget, he also gets MORE thanks to Dragonmaid Welcome, to the tune of 100 for each maid, and since I count 'three', and there are 'two' Dragonmaid Welcomes on the field, that gives him another 600 points, totaling 4200... how is THAT for weak?"

The two Dragonmaid Welcome cards glowed and the Dragonmaids nodded and pointed their fingers at Chaos Necromancer, blasting him with their combined powers to boost his assault, even as he began gathering balls of chaotic dark energy, one orb for each monster in Chazz's graveyard.

'Hey we're baaaaack~!' The Ojamas yelled together as they appeared as small orbs.

'So, he does love us!' Ojama yellow said happily.

Chaos Necromancer began cackling as he gathered the energy and his attack points skyrocketed, he even gave a thumbs up to the maids for their boost.

[Chaos Necromancer 0 Atk / 0 Def – 4200 Atk / 600 Def]

"No, this can't be!" Slade shouted as Chaos Necromancer turned to him.

"YOU GO BYE BYE!"

'MUhahahahaahhaaaah!'

All the orbs containing his monsters launched at Slade, bashing into him and depleting his life points in one fell swoop!

[Joseph – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Chazz – 1700 = Jagger – 3100 / Slade – 0]

"Well since Chazz knocked out Slade, we skip his turn and go straight to me, as you two so kindly said would happen but to us, I draw!" Joseph said as he took his turn now. "Now, I summon Nurse Dragonmaid into attack mode, and she'll bring out Parlor Dragonmaid into attack mode!"

On the field his maids appeared in their pillars of draconic fire, rising in attack mode and preparing for battle.

'I think it's time to clean the filth on the field master~.' Nurse declared warmly.

'This is going to be a delightful sensation~!' Parlor also said with a grin.

"I change my other maids into attack mode! Now girls, power up with Dragonmaid Welcome, since there are '2' Dragonmaid Welcomes, the effect is doubled, so each of my maids now get 1000 Attack points, 100 for each maid, and doubled for the two Welcomes."

[Nurse Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 1500 Atk / 2600 Def]

[Laundry Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 1500 Atk 2600 Def]

[Parlor Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 1500 Atk / 2700 Def]

[Kitchen Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 1500 Atk / 2700 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 1500 Atk / 2800 Def]

"Haaaaah..." Jagger screamed as his maids readied their attacks.

"Maids, take out the 'trash'!"

'With pleasure Master!' They all shouted in unison as they combined their powers into a massive ball of draconic energy, blasting Jagger and wiping him out.

[Joseph – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Chazz – 1700 = Jagger – 0 / Slade – 0]

With that the duel ended and everyone was screaming in applause as Joseph and Chazz waved to the crowds. Everyone was yelling out mixtures of 'Chazz it Up' and 'Ride the Wings of Slifer Victory' and a bunch of other things, but all Joseph cared about was that he and Chazz had pulled out a win that nobody believed would be possible. Despite 'everything' put against them, they found a way to win.

He looked over and saw, smiling from the heighest point in the stands, applauding him with a humble smile and a nod of congratulations, Sheou, even as the other girls began appearing from nearby seats to cheer and wave little flags at him.

This duel had turned them into heroes of Duel Academy, and he gave Chazz a thumbs up, even as Chazz 'rolled his eyes' and nodded with a thumbs up as well.

(Meanwhile, with Seto Kaiba)

"And yea, that's how they won big bro, I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe that anyone could achieve a victory in those conditions, I really didn't think even you and Yugi working together could have pulled it off." Mokuba said over the phone.

"Heh, of course they won, did you really think Mokuba that I would have given Duel Academy to those two idiots? They have a lot to learn about world domination." He told his little bro.

"But how did you know Joseph and Chazz would win, I watched the entire time, they never worked together until the duel started?"

He smiled as he pulled up some data on the two of them.

"Simple... because they're true duelists, and more importantly... they're true rivals. And the only one who knows a duelist better then themselves, is their rival."

(Hours later back at Duel Academy in the Slifer Red Dorm)

Joseph groaned tiredly as he tried to lie down and sleep, it had been a heck of a day, and he just wanted to sleep right now... but that was exceptionally hard right now because of what was going on four rooms down.

'Grrrrrr... is it too late to get that Ra Yellow Promotion?' Nudyarl moaned in distaste.

'Master, can we got back to your old room in the café?' Lorpar begged.

'I hate Slifer Red now...' Ernus muttered.

"Nope... we're stuck here at least until the end of the year..." Joseph whispered quietly.

Four rooms down, Chazz was apparently having a duel spirit party as several duel spirit monsters were having a massive party and playing around in his room. Chazz had yelled something like 'get lost' and basically... his night was going to be a long night.

'How many more months until the end of the year?' Tinkhec asked hopefully.

'Too many...' Nudyarl replied.

Joseph nodded in agreement... it was going to be a looooong night, and an even longer year...

.

.

.

.

.

.

'I fear my young master, that though you are the target of those that would separate us from you, it will be those that suffer in your place in their bid to keep you from harm. The shadows give no mercy nor do they let go those that reside within it without something in exchange.'

'Be wary my young master, for in this field, you may have to suffer... but at least rest easy in the knowledge that we will suffer with you, our dearest master... of the Dragonmaids...'

=Next time, Saffira vs Alexis, The Challenge for the Dragon, A Token of Defiance=

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I am sorry for how slow these updates are becoming, but as I put in my Romances of Pokemon World fanfic, I am struggling to stay motivated, despite my best attempts it feels like every year it becomes harder and harder to keep writing my stories. Hopefully you can accept my apology and my promise to try and keep writing from here on out.

Every month I'll try to write a chapter for one of my fanfics, never the same one twice in a row though, so one month might be this one, the other might be romances of pokemon world, and the next might be Arceus book or XCOM Viper 2, either way I will keep writing, I just hope you accept my apologies for the delays...

Also hope the duel was fun, if you liked it please review what you liked, that alone helps inspire me to write, seeing reviews, positive especially, but even some negatives I'll appreciate because they might help me better write etc.