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.

19. Chapter 18

I apologize again for the long hiatus, but as it is, sometimes I start writing and getting super into what I'm writing, able to write whole chapters it feels like in just a few days... and then others it feels like I write 2 sentences and then just... want to stop.

I'll try to improve my uploads but it's been hard to stay focused.

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"Some days after I had lost them, I felt like I was alone, like I was just better off alone, like nothing mattered, but then I met them, those... little dragons that always seemed to follow me, to be there just over my shoulder or even when I sleep in bed. They're always there, when my... adopted sisters, they call themselves, aren't there. They followed me, always, everywhere I went they were always there."

"The only times I never saw them were when my sisters were around, and it was so strange, they were just as friendly, just as kind... just as 'happy' to be around me as they were. They didn't care what I was doing, even when I was just doing homework, or helping them with the store... or alone in my room, no matter who they were, my sisters or those dragons they were happy to be there with me and spending time with me."

"Together they seemed to fill that hole in my heart, a hole that slowly was filled with their help. One night as I lay in bed, worrying about them leaving and never seeing them again... those little dragons asked, why I was so scared to sleep that night. When I told them, they simply smiled and chuckled, 'As long as you want us to be with you, we'll never leave your side, ever'... and then they told me to go to sleep, and they'll see me in the morning."

"That night... I slept peacefully again... and in the morning, I woke up to see them still there... with me, only leaving when she came to wake me up as always."

= Chapter 18 Prologue =

= Chapter 18, Saffira vs Zane =

The sun peaked through the clouds on the oceans surrounding the island of Duel Academy. If one were to look at the scenery, it would appear as if godrays were streaming down from the heavens, blessing the scenery and beauty of the world for any mere mortal's enjoyment. It looked like a beautiful day to spend inside, perhaps sleep in, or enjoy a nice quiet book under the shade of a tree. Yet somewhere out in the oceans, a small yacht floated on its lonesome, drifting with the tides and floating among the currents and azure sea.

Most of the vessel was closed up, the door locked, the windows shut and the curtains drawn, yet a single window sat with its curtains open that could be seen if one were close enough to see it. Peering through that window, a sight that could not be possible was visible, for the yacht was small and looked like it barely could house more than a single small bedroom for two to sleep in from the outside. Yet inside that room, an enormous, lavishly decorated room could be seen the size of a small apartment. A beautiful velvet colored bed lay, bathed in colored light being cast from a massive stain glass window which portrayed the outline of a dragon in flight, created from a constellation of stars.

Laying atop the bed, underneath small thin blankets of lavender, surrounded by bed curtains of elaborate decorations, each featuring different portrayals of the same dragon, each created from a constellation of stars arrayed differently, was a beautiful feminine dragoness. Her different hues of blueish scales and light blue feathers adorning her wing, did nothing to hide the gentle sleep she seemed to be enjoying as her chest rose and fell, lightly lifting and lowering the blanket covering her body. Her blonde hair was splayed in multiple directions while her horns poked the fabric of the pillow her head lay on. She slept peacefully as the light cast rays of colors upon her through the bed, while the rest of her room lay in relative darkness, say for the occasional glance of light that reflected from the golden armor and clothing that hung around her.

It was on this massive bed that a small lump of silk was carefully moving toward the edge, and as it pushed near the blanket's crest, a little crystal head poked up and looked around. Alexis, now sporting a shimmering blue-light blue hardened surface color looked at her surroundings before finishing pulling herself out.

Alexis glanced at Saffira's sleeping form and slowly crawled out from the blanket and began to carefully stand up and then slowly 'walk' toward the edge of the bed so as to not disturb the sleeping dragon. She had to be careful because she spent the last ten hours it felt like trying to find an opportunity to 'escape' her captor. At no point did the duel spirit give her an opening, at all times either keeping her in a glass container on a desk, or just now held in the clutches of her clawed hands while she slept. Just now her claws had loosened enough for her to finally slip out of her grasp and then had to 'crawl' under the blanket to get to where she is now.

'That blanket is so heavy... how does something so soft and comfortable looking feel like someone my size is weighing me down?' Alexis thought as she slowly walked toward the edge of the bed.

She had to take it slow because it really did feel heavy for her, being this small was... unusual. It wasn't like all those science classes she managed to stay awake in, where they said ants despite being so small are 'actually' really strong with their environment at their size. She could barely lift the blanket up enough to move, she legit had to crawl by dragging herself forward, the blanket was weighing her down that much!

'Maybe it's some form of magic or whatever, like how she turned me into a living crystal statue!'

She also shuddered as she remembered how her 'captor' had... well... kept her. Sitting in a glass cylinder-like container that one would often see rare and valuable dolls sitting in being posed. If it weren't the container, then she was placed on a high shelf where if she 'tried' to jump, she was warned she'd break and shatter, ending her life. And if it weren't that, causing her to fear for her life from heights, then there was being held, literally, in the palm of Saffira's hand.

She also learned a lot more about duel spirits then she figured she'd ever learn about. First... unlike her, Saffira did not need to eat, so for the most part Saffira never ate, only creating, with magical powers, a delicious looking dinner rivaled 'only' by the maids at the cafe, but she commented that though it was delicious, it wasn't real and didn't provide her any substance.

Second, she learned that they also didn't need to shower or bathe... yet Saffira most certainly enjoyed bathing, saying the act of lavishing in water reminded her of her home, and wearing her armor and clothing, however little it was, got in the way.

Third, well she learned that at least with Saffira, she was just as much a lady as any other, and the only reason Saffira didn't hide anything was because 'she's a girl as well, so why hide what they both knew the other has'.

But now, Alexis could see the goal, if she could just reach the end which she was drawing nearer, she could grab at the bed curtains and 'slide' her way down to the floor. From there she'll escape back to the academy and... do something to get back to normal. She didn't know, but she'll figure that part out later, one step at a time!

"Alright Alexis... this is where you prove your value being on the girl's track team and being a lead member of the swim team!" She whispered as she got close enough to start her run.

She bent low, got ready, glad she didn't need to breathe because of her crystal state and then 'ran'.

It wasn't easy running with the fluffy and bouncy nature of the bed, but she managed a rapid pace as she drew nearer and nearer. When she was at the distance needed for her leap, she braced herself, pushed down and leapt, reaching out to grab at the bed curtains as she felt gravity starting to take ahold of her again. But just as she was about to grab the hanging silken sheets, a svelte hand moved in front of her and plucked her with two equally svelte fingers.

"Whoooaoh!" She yelled as she was stopped mid-air and pulled back to the bed, forced to stare into the smirking scaly face of her dragoness captor.

"Going Somewhere?" She asked with a chuckle as she slowly started to slide out of bed. "How many times must I say it... you can't leave this prison I've placed you in."

"Grrr... I'll get out of here, just you wait!" Alexis said with a sneer as she was gently carried by a Saffira who wore nothing and was naked, over to a large table that was revealed with a snap of the Dragon Queen's fingers.

The room was instantly lit up, revealing velvet carpets, elaborately carved dressers and even a Mirror that was as tall as Saffira. It was astonishing how vast the room was, as it just seemed like there was so much space, even from Alexis' smaller point of view.

"I keep saying, you can't escape even if you try... or have you forgotten the curse placed upon you from losing a Shadow Duel?" Saffira asked politely as she picked up a glass shield and placed her upon the dais, before instantly plopping it down and locking her in place. "If you lose your fate is mine, and I choose that you shall be encased in a crystal sculpture, forever trapped, unable to move except to me and me alone!"

Saffira walked over to her hanging clothes and armor, beginning to adorn her body and properly dress herself, looking as she did in the artwork of her card that she remembered seeing during the duel. Once she was fully dressed Saffira turned around and walked over to her, sitting in the chair and just staring at Alexis now.

"So, now that we're both properly dressed-"

"Pffffpth!" Alexis called as she blew a raspberry at her to taunt the dragoness, the only form of rebellion she was allowed.

"Point taken... tell me, what do you know of the dragon I seek?"

"What makes you think I'd help you with trying to steal my friend's Dragonmaid?" She said angrily. "Let me guess, you want to know where he keeps his cards or where he's staying so you can steal his Dragonmaid cards? What's wrong, Joseph's Father can't handle fighting a bunch of maid cards wielded by his own son, so he conjures up a duel spirit to do the job for him?"

Saffira did not get angry nor upset in any way at the vicious insult she hurled at Joseph's dad, in fact the opposite, she chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Hahaha... I think that's the case..." She replied with a smile. "No, again... as I told you before I do not 'seek' the House Dragonmaid card, nor the other Dragonmaids your friend Joseph wields. I seek the 'Dragon'... a Dragon I was told would be my salvation."

At that Alexis looked confused, again. She was seeking a 'dragon' to save herself, why, wasn't she here to hurt her friend, send him to the Shadow Realm, force him to surrender the Dragonmaids to his father? She was very confused, wasn't that the whole point to Joseph's Father summoning these duel spirits, to do the job he couldn't do himself? That was why she and the others were trying to protect him, to keep him from being sent to the Shadow Realm. "Okay, let's just say I 'might' know this dragon, not that I do... but if I did, why should I help you. You forced us to duel you in a Shadow Duel, you're threatening my friend with this Shadow Realm business, and you turned me into a crystal. I legit cannot feel the heat or cold, breathe, feel hungry, I can't even TOUCH the wood of this thing I'm sitting on and I can't even sleep, I don't even feel TIRED. I've been up for the past twenty hours, without a wink of sleep and I don't even feel the need to nap. Why would or should I even want to help you?"

At that Saffira looked genuinely apologetic to Alexis as she nodded, knowing all of that was true and agreeing with her. "You have no reason to... but I must find this Dragon... because it truly is my only hope of salvation now." She said as she raised her arm and showed the golden wristband with the millennium eye. "Because of That Man, I have now only three possible paths before me. The first path... I fail him and for my failure am sent to the void or suffer eternal torture in the Shadow Realm. The second path I succeed and 'pray' for my service he returns me from whence I came, but we both know that will not come to pass, he will make me his eternal slave... a servitude I would rather suffer the void then endure."

She then sighed, looking back at the stained-glass window of a dragon, created by a constellation of stars, a dragon she knew nothing about but what she was told, what 'he' prophesized to her saying would happen.

"Or the third path, the one I am desperate to walk, the 'Dragon' I seek, will break the chain that binds me to him, and from that broken chain, will become my new master, and whom will protect me from the shadow's grasp." She said sadly as she thought of the words she was told, a light in the dark she found herself in now, prophesized by the one who was wisest of all.

She remembered, as she clung to the Duel Spirit Realm, trying to resist, to hold until she heard those words so she'd know what to do to save herself from this terrible fate. 'Know this Saffira, queen of mine ... your salvation comes when the stars align... seek out the dragon under shadow's order... watch it ascend to end your torture... for should it succeed and break your chain... forever newly bound, shall it be the end to your pain.'He had told her with a warm smile, even as she cried and screamed, feeling herself being pulled from their realm even as he was painting, seemingly uncaring to her plight, but still comforting with his words. 'Seek out the Dragon, little Saffira, it's light will guide you, helping you find it... oh and since your still here, do you like this new picture I drew? It's still a work in progress but I was inspired to draw it after I gazed up at the stars last night!'

She didn't know why he would ask that, but before she had a chance to answer, she was pulled from her realm into this world. Now, she searches for that which he said would save her. "I just have to find it; this dragon I was told would save me from this fate... because while I am bound to That Man... I exist on borrowed time..." She said as she got up and left the room to while away the hours, even as Alexis started hammering and yelling to not be left on that dais. But as Saffira walked away, Alexis suddenly became stiff and silent, her expression that of frustration and annoyance as she stopped mid-motion to hit the glass containing her.

= Deflecting the Cyber Dragon =

Joseph just sat in the cafe as he was told of what transpired the night before, told by Zane as he said, in his words, he was the one who had been the most skeptical about all of this 'Shadow Duel' business, and said because of his skepticism he'd let a good friend of his and his little brother's friend be pulled into a duel where she lost. Everyone else was either sitting around them or in Chazz's case, standing nearby, looking tired 'and' frustrated over the whole situation. All of them were stunned, having never seen the full result of a shadow duel loss firsthand, until now at least. The only other thing in the room was a plush of the sheep tokens sitting on the table, brought by Syrus.

Before it was just seeing some injuries, a few cards taken, some cuts, burns and bruises... but this was the first time any of them truly felt the weight of this whole Shadow Game Business that they were now a part of. Each of them, Syrus, Chumley, Zane, Chazz, and Bastion were all not nearly as brave as they were when they all promised to work together to help protect Joseph from his father sending these Duel Spirits to send him to the Shadow Realm. Yet it was Joseph, who was feeling it worst of all, because he was the one being targeted and now it was his friends suffering the effects because of his personal family feud with his father.

They told him what happened, how they were challenged by a Duel Spirit called 'Saffira', how she sent an invitation, how Alexis accepted before anyone else could, and how she told them to keep Joseph out of the loop so he wouldn't have to worry. Now... now he sat holding his head thinking of how this was all his fault, how he should have woken up earlier that morning, how he should have been the one to accept the challenge.

"Why did this have to happen... I thought the worst thing I'd have to worry about was getting detention, or forgetting homework, or being late to take a test!" He muttered as Sheou walked over with a tray of cups filled with water.

"I'm sorry Joseph, but she told us to keep you out of the loop." Bastion said apologetically.

"Yea... if we could have told you, we would have... but you know... she said not to." Chumley whispered sadly.

"I can't believe she was turned into a crystal statue... before our eyes." Zane muttered, his normally calm, calculating and relatively 'in control' expression now flushed with frustration and disbelief.

There was silence as Sheou looked around at them all with a disheartened expression while she closed her eyes and asked Joseph, if she could be excused for a moment. "Yea sure... not like... anything is happening right now." He told her.

"Thank you young master." She spoke as she turned and walked upstairs, apparently to talk to the other girls who had yet to come down.

All morning the cafe was closed, none of the girls were present except for Sheou, who dutifully woke Joseph on time, readied him for the day as always, and prepared his breakfast. But as she left his draconic friends, the Dragonmaids all began appearing around him, Nudyarl gently patting Joseph's shoulder, Tinkech nuzzling her cheek against his, Ernus curling around his other shoulder and just sharing space with a sad expression, and finally Lorpar sitting on the table in front of him and gripping his wrist while patting his hand comfortingly. All of them were upset that Alexis had been beaten, but worse off, suffered a fate none of them could believe. Being frozen into a crystalized sculpture, with her last expression according to Zane being that of sheer terror...

"So... now what?" Chazz asked them all suddenly.

"Now what?" Joseph asked back.

"Yea, now what, are we going to just going to mope around and cry or are we going to get off our butts and fight back?" Chazz asked angrily, raising his fist with a determined glare.

"But... Alexis..." Joseph started saying but Chazz walked over, interrupted him and grabbed him by the shirt to lift him up.

"Get this through your head Joseph, Alexis lost, we get it, we all were there and you weren't, we saw it with our own eyes!" He told him. "I was the first to want to fight this Saffira, but Alexis took my thunder! She knew the risks as well as any of us, and she fought so 'you' wouldn't be hurt! She did it for you, so don't you sit there and moan and say how everything is your fault and all that jazz cause it aint all about you!"

'Get your hands off our master!' Tinkech snarled as she got up to Chazz's face.

'If you know what's good for you, you'll let him go INSTANTLY!' Nudyarl sneered as she bared her fangs, matching Tinkech.

'Let go of the Master or we'll Char Boil your face!' Ernus shouted with seething anger.

'Okay buster, you just lost all 'friend' privileges you were granted from Master!' Lorpar growled between her snarling teeth.

'H-h-hey now calm down, let's be reasonable about this now uh... dragon girls?' Ojama Yellow said nervously as he poked from behind Chazz's shoulder.

'Y-y-yea... I'm sure the boss got a goooood reason for the manhandling... uh right boss?' Ojama Black said in a terrified tone.

'L-let's not get tooo hasty here, like my bros said!' Ojama Green pleaded on his knees with hands clasped.

'You stay out of this unless you want us to grill you all the same color scheme!' All four Dragons shouted in unison, their angry draconic auras burning with rage.

Chazz however, was ignoring them as he pulled Joseph out of the seat and forced him to stand on his level, but his face wasn't angry anymore, it was just filled with unwavering determination. "Look Joseph, we all knew the risks when we all agreed to back you up with these shadow duelists your dad is sending against you. Alexis knew them, same as the rest of us... but she lost, and we can't let that happen again, but it will happen again if we spend our time moping like you are and not preparing ourselves to win! So, are you ganna sit here and whine, act like a loser, or man up and ready yourself to 'win'."

"He's right Joseph." Zane said calmly as he glanced up at them from the table. "Like it or not, we have to win... we have at least one hope, Alexis 'wasn't' sent to the Shadow Realm, so Saffira is holding her hostage. Which means we can rescue her, but only if we win."

Zanes 'and' Chazz's words cut deep into him, enough that after only a few seconds his expression grew stern and determined as well. They were right, they had to rescue Alexis now, and being upset about not being kept in the loop and especially Alexis' fate wasn't going to help her. But on that note, he did say to them all, "I still don't like that you left me out of the loop guys, like... I understand but still..."

Syrus slumped as he and Chumley nodded in agreement. "We know... we should have told you but Alexis told us to keep it a secret."

"Yea bro, we wanted to tell you, heck I was leaving and checking to make sure you were asleep... I even made extra noises to see if you'd wake up!" Chumley said.

"Wait, you did that on purpose? I thought you said your pants were always the hardest to get on in the morning, that's why you made the noises you did!" Syrus said angrily. "You have any idea how much effort I spent trying to muffle your sounds, to think you were doing it on purpose!"

"Well, it wasn't my fault, although I guess it kind of was... I just felt bad, I was hoping he'd follow us without us knowing, that way we coulda kept our promise and he woulda been in the loop!"

"Huh... why didn't I think of that." Syrus muttered as he realized Chumley was on to something.

"Way to try and keep a secret." Bastion muttered with a halfhearted smile before nodding to Zane. "So... how about we start strategizing the best way to defeat our opponent now that we've had a chance to observe their deck and playstyle."

"Bastion's right, now that we have an idea of their strategy and tactics, we can prepare and see who would best be suited to defeat her in a head on fight." Zane told Joseph.

However, while Joseph had easily forgiven Chazz for his grabbing him and 'eventually' forgave his friends for just wanting to protect him, his Dragonmaids had 'not' been so kind to Chazz. As he sat back down to start talking with the others over what their next move would be, the dragon girls all snarled and made rude faces at Chazz before slowly vanishing one by one. Soon after they heard a multitude of footsteps sounded, the source of which being Sheou and the other girls walking down from upstairs, all of his adopted sisters yawning and stretching as they walked down in their usual maid outfits.

"Apologies young master, I was just rousing the other maids to begin their daily routines according to the schedule." Sheou said with a polite bow.

"Yea... sorry we weren't opening this morning!" Kite said with an apologetic bow. "We forgot to set our alarm clocks this morning!"

"Yea... which uh means, I missed collecting everyone's laundry baskets this morning... eheheehe..." Luna muttered with a sheepish smile as she was the first to leave.

"And I'm late to head over to the Obelisk Dorms... so if you'll pardon me, I must get over there swiftly!" Amber said with a sad smile as she bowed and quickly left the cafe.

"Ugh, and there's still so much to do..." Lora said with a sad frown as she walked out as well.

"To the nurse's office... to help organize her medicine cabinets." Sun apologetically declared as she too left.

"Say Kite, can I place a quick order for some grub before you ladies open up the cafe to the public?" Chazz asked as Kite was walking past their table to head to the kitchen.

"Sure but 'you're' paying the standard price as every other guest we welcome!" Kite whispered angrily.

"Gyaaah... what'd I do, I thought I was on the 'free food' list here!"

"You lost that privilege as of this morning!" Kite grunted as she walked on.

Everyone just watched the usually polite and cheerful 'kitchen maid' and typical cook of the Maid of the Dragon's Cafe leave in a huff and behind the closed door of the kitchen. Joseph was actually curious why she was acting that way, as he'd never seen her act like that ever. Even that one time where he accidentally broke her favorite porcelain vase that was supposedly over eight hundred years old that she used to store tea leaves. Not realizing how rare and valuable, as well as how much of an antique it was, supposedly coming from the days of the French Empire and even supposedly had history behind it, being handed down through French Royalty... and still not being as tall as he was now, he'd gone to grab it so he could pull out some tea leaves for her, before overreaching and knocking it over. It broke instantly, and fearing her wrath he'd hurriedly tried to put the pieces together... but instead of her fury she just chuckled and dumped the pieces out, commenting how 'it was an accident, not a big deal', and pulled out a replacement that looked nothing like the one she'd lost.

Sheou even told him it's history and how that was a priceless antique to the cafe, yet 'none' of the girls seemed to care it was destroyed, or even were upset that he smashed it. When he went to apologize, she just hugged him close to her and laughed it off, saying what mattered to her was that he was healthy and happy, not some ugly antique that she only ever used to store tea leaves. Not even Sheou seemed to mind, she just chided him to be more 'careful' and not break anything, or else she'd start pulling from his allowance to pay for any additional priceless vases he broke by accident.

"Well, let's get back to talking about Saffira's Deck and what her stratagem was." Bastion said as he idly rapped his fingers on the plush. "Saffira spent her entire duel for the first half of her match with Alexis summoning out Normal Monsters. She had not one single effect monster in her entire deck, say for one, a Ritual Monster she summoned and her entire deck was all dragon type monsters."

"On top of that, the only other card she played were Token type cards." Chazz continued. "She summoned a bunch of zero attack, zero defense tokens that did nothing but stall until she played three trap cards."

"Three trap cards called Token Stampede... what did they do, I forget." Chumley asked.

"What they did was give every Token in attack mode she had one thousand attack points for each, and make them immune to battle destruction." Zane explained. "Essentially, she turned a bunch of weak tokens, into unstoppable creatures that have the strength of a Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"Normal monsters and tokens..." Joseph muttered as he thought about that. "Wait, I remember Tokens being used. That Monarch Deck I dueled, it had a card that summoned a Token to my side of the field! It had no effect and barely any points!"

"Yea but why use a bunch of Tokens brother... they're worthless... aren't they?" Syrus asked. "I mean, tokens often have no points if any, no effects, they're not worth using most times right."

"No, they're not, but it's all about the deck one plays, sometimes they're used as sacrifices for the summoning of more powerful, more effective monsters." Bastion explained to them all. "It also depends on the strategy one plays using their tokens, and it seems her purpose is not just to make them powerful but to also use them as tributes for her more powerful monster, but 'powerful' is more subjective, considering the only times she summoned one, it was instantly destroyed. Not having any effects makes them nothing more than glorified 'beat sticks', as the saying goes."

"So, her gameplan is just to sit there, play defensive and waste time summoning monsters until she gets her Token Stampedes set up, and then she switches from defense to offense." Chazz simplified.

"No... there's more to her strategy. She also played one more card, a field spell... but I've never seen it before, and I barely had any time to analyze its effects in the duel when it was played."

Joseph looked at Bastion when he mentioned a field spell that he 'never saw before'. It reminded him of those Darkest Knights that his father used against him, monsters, spells and traps that didn't even exist officially. If it weren't for him creating illegal copies and using them in the duel, he would have never even known they existed. "Do you think it's another case of a card that doesn't exist outside of Kaiba Corp's duel testing labs?"

"No... this time I can be assured... because after the duel, I spent 'hours' looking for that card..." Bastion said, and it was true, he looked dead tired with bags under his eyes. "I checked every forum, every lead I could track, I asked everyone I ever met, heck I even offered up rare cards as bounties to anyone who had any information on that card. But nobody had even the closest second-rate version of that card. Heck, I was so desperate by the end before I finally crashed... that I was even looking up those second-hand fake cards, you know the ones people try to scam for the official cards that don't even have the correct names?"

"Not even those?" Chazz asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bastion shook his head. "Nope, it's like the card doesn't even exist... not even the theoretical database chatroom has information. I asked around, everyone thought I was insane... good thing I used an alternate account to ask, all of my internet credit would have been shot out the window if I used my real account."

"So... how do we prepare for a field spell that we don't know what it does?" Chumley asked.

"We analyze what it did... and what we saw before the duel ended, was it destroy every other card in play before it copied one of Alexis' monsters." Zane replied. "A powerful effect like that is hard to stop... but at least it's something to go on."

"Can any card do that... just... wipe the board on both sides?"

"Wipe the board, yes... but not both player's sides. Very few cards are that powerful, the only one that comes to mind is the Chaos Emperor Dragon, Envoy of the End and its effect, but it destroys itself as a result of the effect." Bastion explained.

"And this field spell however, only blew up every other card and left itself unscathed." Zane said as he remembered noticing that effect. "But... before I could get a better look at the card's other effects... the duel was ending, the only other thing I noticed was that it summoned out a Token it seemed, of Alexis' monster, before she lost."

They all grew quiet as this was a lot of information to go on, but at least for Joseph it was enough information to learn about how their opponent played, so when they were challenged again, he would be ready. After a few moments Sheou walked over to them with a humble bow and a pleasant smile, asking if they wanted anything from the kitchen, and politely asking Chazz to pay his entry fee.

"Oh, come on, what happened to me being allowed to eat here for free?" Chazz complained.

"I'm sorry but the other maids all voted to unanimously remove you from the list, I'm afraid the only one who can possibly get them to change their mind at this point is Young Master Joseph." Sheou replied to him.

Joseph sighed as Chazz glanced over at him, silently asking him to be nice, and so Joseph nodded and asked Sheou to let him eat here for free as before. He knew they probably were mad because Chazz had gotten a 'tad' rough with him, but in all honesty, he didn't see how that was possible, they were all upstairs so how could they have known? Maybe they just had a rough morning and maybe Chazz said something snarky and they took it personal, either way whatever it was he didn't deserve to be removed from his 'friends list'.

"Very well, I shall inform the other maids of your wishes, now would you all like to have something to eat? You must all be famished after all that talking!" Sheou asked warmly.

They all placed orders, but their orders were very light... even Chumley only ordered a 'light' grilled cheese. Joseph's was by far the lightest as he just didn't have a stomach that morning, knowing that someone should have been there when they weren't. When Kite served them, she did so with her usual smile, but still gave Chazz an evil menacing glare as she walked away, causing him to shudder in fear as he did not know why she was so irked with him.

"Your sisters are creepy scary some days..." Chazz muttered as they ate their late breakfast that morning.

As Sheou came by to refill their glasses there was a loud knock on the door, causing them to look over as Sheou placed the jug of flavored water on the table before going to open it. "Wel- huh... nobody's here... hm?" She then bent down and picked something up before closing the door and turning back to them. "What an odd-looking scroll... it's addressed to... nobody?"

The group all looked at the scroll sitting in Sheou's hands and all but Joseph recognized it instantly. Before any of them could ask Sheou for the scroll, she opened it and started to read it, or at least 'try' to read it as her expression grew confused upon seeing the contents. "Huh... what an odd language... I've never seen any of these characters, and I'm fluent in over seventeen languages..."

"Ma'am, may we see that scroll please?" Bastion asked politely, holding out his hand for the scroll.

Sheou nodded and rerolled it up, before handing it over to him and rejoining them at the table to tend to their needs. Bastion unrolled it again and they all looked at it, with him commenting that, "Yep, it's the same as the one from yesterday... I can't read a word of it. It's the same for you all right?"

"Yep, not a word." Zane stated.

"Ditto." Chumley whispered.

"Yea..." Syrus agreed.

"Huh... what do you mean, I can read it just fine." Joseph said as he read it and couldn't tell what they were talking about, it was plain as day to him.

"Yea, same here..." Chazz said with a raised eyebrow, glancing at Joseph. "I think we can safely say that only select people can read it."

Chazz knew why Joseph could read it, and as Joseph looked at Chazz he could see his three Ojamas sitting on his shoulders with big grins and thumbs up. As if to respond, Tinkech floated up and around his shoulder to look at the paper while Sheou was busy, heading to the kitchen with their plates. 'Yep, looks like duel spirit language to me master...'

"Huh... duel spirit language?" He asked her quietly while everyone was focused on the scroll as Chazz picked it up to read to them all.

'Yep, duel spirit language, only duel spirits can read it or those with a duel spirit attached to their soul can read it!'Tinkech said with a warm smile. 'Reason why you can read it is because you've got 'us' attached to your soul! As long as we're with you, you can read that stuff as easy as if it were any other language you could learn! It translates instantly into the language you know most, no translations needed!'

Chazz cleared his throat and then started reading, "To whom it may concern... really, who else is this person contacting, Professor Banner? Anyway... To whom it may concern..."

"I the Queen of the Drconia, or Dragons as you know us by, hereby challenge you in an honorable duel of fate and destiny. I challenge thee for control of the Dragon's Spirit, the terms of the duel shall be explained further when we meet in person. If you accept, sign your name and cast this scroll into the fire, and meet me tonight at midnight by the ocean side pier, reject, and the Dragon's Spirit, and Alexis' soul shall be forfeit. Do you accept, or do you reject? Signed... Saffira."

As one they all stared at the scroll as Chazz placed the scroll flat for them all. "Well, looks like Miss Saffira raised the stakes, last time it was just this 'Dragon's Spirit' that she wanted, now it's this Dragon's Spirit and Alexis."

'Gee Boss, this is gettin real serious, aint ya nervous?' Ojama Yellow asked.

"Grrr will you shut up?" Chazz snarled as he punched the Ojamas away to make them vanish.

'She's after the boss... it's the only reason why she'd mention a 'Dragon's Spirit!' Tinkech said as she floated in front of Joseph. 'Master, we're not that strong as far as duel spirits go. Yea sure we're tougher than that potato, asparagus and pomegranate that Chazz has following him, but we're basically small fry compared to the Boss! She's like ten times as strong as us! Even if you combined all of us, me, Nudyarl, Ernus, and Lorpar... we don't even come close, together we have not even a 'fifth' of the duel spirit power the Boss has!'

He nodded as he didn't want to tell what she was saying to the others, but Chazz was watching and listening to her talking to him, and he again glanced at the scroll with a raised eyebrow, as if thinking to himself.

"Alright... well, now we have to decide... obviously we're going to accept, but who's going to challenge Saffira?"

"Obviously it's going to be-" Chazz started saying, going to grab the scroll, but Bastion snatched it away.

"No Chazz, not so suddenly, 'think' for a moment!" Bastion said with a glare. "Everyone has to think about this... no rushing, remember... the 'duel' isn't just your everyday duel we've had before now. Sure, there's dueling for the fate of our academy, dueling in front of the world, dueling for an egg sandwich... or heck dueling for the last ticket to a limited time event, and each is important in their own right. But all those times... nobody got 'hurt' dueling. This time... the damage is real, the pain is real, you could really 'die' if you're not careful... and if you lose... well... we all saw it with our own eyes last night."

He put the scroll down and looked at Joseph. "Look Joseph, I know you want to go in, but in all honesty, you should be the 'last' to accept, it's not personal... but remember, your father wants you to duel, he 'wants' you to lose. If you duel too much, you'll be worn down through these shadow games, you'll get sloppy, make a mistake... and then you're finished. So... let 'us' handle it... at least for now, if we lose against Saffira again, then you can fight and we won't stop you. Promise!"

Joseph wanted to say no, but he knew Bastion was the smartest person there, he wasn't saying that to deny him the chance to avenge Alexis, rescue her, or even tell his dad that he wasn't going down without a fight. He was saying it because the last shadow duel he lost, and only got 'lucky' that he wasn't sent to the Shadow Realm, and it almost broke him. So regretfully he nodded and accepted Bastion's request.

"Alright... now, who will step up and face Saffira." Bastion asked.

There was a bit of quiet as they all looked at the paper, Chazz was about to raise his voice and declare he'd duel Saffira, but Zane pulled the scroll toward him and pulled out a pen, signed his name, and with the same cold, calculating expression he was known for, got up and walked over to the fireplace to throw it into it.

"Ooooh my... what did you throw in the fireplace?" Sheou suddenly asked as she walked out from the kitchen to just catch Zane throwing the scroll.

She walked over with a worried tone as she and the others watched it burn to ashes in seconds.

"Mr. Truesdale... that fireplace is not a toy!"

"I apologize ma'am, but it was something that had to be done." He said as he walked away to go back to the table while Sheou swiftly started trying to poke the fire with a poker and ensure it didn't spread by accident. "I'll duel Saffira, it has to be me... this is personal."

"But Zane..." Syrus whispered fearfully.

"I'll be alright Syurs, I'm the best duelist here so I have the best chance of winning." Zane said as he pulled out his deck and started going through his cards. "I'm going to go back to Obelisk Blue and prepare my cards for the duel... we'll meet later at the ocean by the pier."

"Got it." Chazz said as he and Bastion, Syrus and Chumley all got up to start leaving, with Joseph being the last to leave with Zane.

However, just as Joseph started leaving, deciding to at least distract himself with homework... Zane tapped him to make him pause.

"What's up?"

Zane waited until the door was closed, while also holding the plush toy that Syrus had left on the table by accident under his arm. "First, take this back to Syrus, he forgot it." He said, handing the plush over. "Second... during my duel with Saffira, pay close attention to the field spell she plays, and make sure to remember every effect it uses!"

Joseph was confused as Tinkech floated over his shoulder and tilted her head alongside him. "Zane... why are you saying that, if you win, I shouldn't have to worry about the field spell right?"

Zane nodded, but he still said, "I'm telling you to pay attention... 'just in case'..." before walking out and leaving the cafe.

Bastion walked over to the Obelisk dorms with his usual stride, face showing no emotion as he thought about the duel Alexis had with that Duel Spirit. Every card that was played, every move made, every action taken, gathering all of the information and throwing it together to formulate a strategy and gameplan for his opponent. Entering the dorms he walked past the various rooms, up a flight of stairs while passing by Amber the 'Chamber Maid' who occasionally worked in the Obelisk Dorms. She was exiting his room and humbly bowed, welcoming him back to his room.

"I've finished making your bed and your laundry will be here later, I apologize for the tardiness, Luna the Laundry Maid was delayed this morning." She said.

"Thank you." He said as he walked in and closed the door and walked over to his desk to go and look over his cards.

Sitting on the desk was, if anyone 'else' walked in, a small Sheep Token plush. The token was a 'present' from his little brother, as a gift because he was in classes when there was a plush giveaway. He didn't really care much about the toy, but since it was a gift from his little bro, and their mother had been very happy to see them getting along now, he let it sit on the desk staring with its blank expression.

"So, this 'spirit' plays a deck full of normal monsters, almost entirely of the Dragon Type, and Token type cards." He said as he began examining his Cyber Dragon deck. "On top of that... she plays cards that stall, delay... and otherwise keep her life points from being depleted."

He lifted up Cyber End Dragon, and it was like he heard a roar coming from it.

"You sense it too... don't you... there's more to that duelist then just someone playing a 'normal' beat down deck. Even with Token Stampede, that effect only applies to Tokens... and she's just using them to stall out 'again', until... she draws that field spell." He muttered. "Bastion said he couldn't find any information on it, so... that means it might not even exist, and if that's the case I need to be at my best... so let's get started."

He started arranging his cards, removing those he could spare and adding others to improve his deck to account for the possible responses his opponent would bring. As he adjusted and prepared his deck, the little plush sat observing him, motionless and silent...

Meanwhile, Saffira once more stared into the eyes of her servant, staring through their eyes and trying to once again search for the Dragon. She saw so many duelists, so many faces... and through them their cards. Yet still none of them were the Dragon, the more she searched the less she found. As she observed, her eyes furrowed, she grew more desperate...

"Where... where is it... where is the 'dragon'?" She whispered fearfully. "Fairies... insects... warriors... warriors again? That one has dragons but he doesn't use them!"

She searched, and searched... and searched some more until she felt her powers begin to waver. When she felt herself begin to tire, she closed her eyes and shook her head, sending her servant away.

"He said I'd see it... he said it's light would guide me, to help me find it." She sighed nervously as she knew her time to duel was drawing closer and closer. "So... where is it... where is the Dragon?"

She sighed as she got up and walked into the bedroom, past all of the ornate columns and the bed, walking over to the desk to where her 'guest' was still residing.

"Are you going to let me out yet?" Alexis asked her as she sat down.

She smirked as the little crystalized human was amusing if nothing else. "Not yet... just here for pleasant conversation." She said. "So... I just got word on who my next opponent will be... Zane Truesdale."

"Lucky you..."

"Yep... at least I hope... perhaps he carries the Dragon I seek... and if so then perhaps I'll yet be saved." She told her.

"Fat chance, Zane's going to make you regret coming to our Island!"

"I've told you... I don't have a choice... if I did have a choice... I'd be anywhere else but here. I just want to return to my realm... but now that's never going to happen, I'm trapped here without a soul to sustain me!"

She sat silent in her chair as she breathed deeply, letting the light of the day shine on them and enjoying the peace and quiet. "What do you mean by 'a soul to sustain you'?" Alexis asked. "What, you like a vampire or something, you suck people's souls so you can survive like that Erebus spirit?"

Saffira looked down at the crystalized human and shook her head. "No... while that is 'one' option... it's not the 'only' option." She whispered to her, leaning down to talk to her at eye level, or as close to eye level as they could manage given their sizes. "While some duel spirits will no doubt happily consume a human's soul to keep them going and gain more power... most... would rather coexist peacefully and prefer a symbiotic relationship with a human soul in this world."

"A symbiotic relationship?"

"That's right... instead of hurting the human's soul, we link ourselves to their soul and live with them." She told her. "We exist alongside them, talk to them, guide them... spend our lives with them and assist them however we can and are able to. For you see we have a vested interest in keeping their soul, their 'spirit' as it were, as healthy and whole as possible once a pact is made. A small portion of their soul's spirit energy is given to us every second, every minute, of every single day we stay with them. They feed us their energy, make us ever so slightly stronger, allowing us to not only exist in the corporeal form, but also depending on the health of the soul, in the physical realm as well. Sometimes we can only ever exist in the astral plain... but for some spirits, we can exist alongside you humans in your world, as much as you can easily live in ours, if you could cross over into the Duel Spirit world that is."

"Okay..." Alexis said, not exactly buying the whole thing considering she was still a prisoner, but still curious considering she was talking to a dragon. "So... just to say I believe half the stuff coming out of your mouth, what do you mean by the 'health of a soul'? How do you know if a soul is healthy?"

She smiled as she closed her eyes to picture it, trying to portray it as best as she could in words she'd understand. "Well first, a healthy soul doesn't necessarily mean they eat salads and take regular walks, but that is a nice bonus to 'help' the soul grow healthily." She said as she pictured a 'healthy' soul in her mind, a soul that wasn't tainted by darkness or 'sins' as humans would describe them. "If a human's soul harbors no 'excessive' thoughts of greed, as an example, then it remains white and grows healthy, grows stronger, and otherwise is perfect for the duel spirit that is sustained by the human's soul. But if it harbors excessive thoughts of anger, bitterness, rage... and you know... the other stuff nobody wants to feel but can't help sometimes, it will grow darker and become tainted, unhealthy and sick and the spirit suffers for it. Think of it as seeing a white orb and a black orb, both representing the soul but both in different states of one's wellbeing. The chubbiest, ugliest, unfit human ever to exist can have the purest soul one could imagine... while the healthiest, fittest, most amazing looking person could have the dirtiest soul to counter-balance it. We duel spirits aren't picky about looks... what we truly desire... is the soul."

She then looked down at Alexis to keep explaining.

"Only a 'few' duel spirits understand this relationship between the soul and the spirit, most are content with whoever they're with, even if they act rude to each other as long as the relationship is relatively 'healthy' and the human's soul is also 'healthy'... nobody is going to complain in the relationship. The reason it works out well symbiotically, is because we duel spirits don't need 'much' energy from the human's soul, and what we take is easily replaced... a Human's Soul is very strong, and easily regenerates its strength and health with time, so we only take a slim amount more than what we need, what's needed to sustain us and a teaspoon's worth to help 'us' grow stronger. In exchange, through our interaction with the human, we help nourish and grow the soul, whatever state it's in. This in turn grows and strengthens the soul, which in turn feeds us, strengthening us and thus the cycle repeats. The only downside... we need to keep within very close range of our human we are bound to and none but those who can also see a duel spirit can see us besides the one we're bound to."

Alexis thought about that, if that was true... now she suddenly wondered... if it was possible that those 'sisters' of Joseph's weren't really his sisters but actually his Dragonmaids, they bore a striking similarity but... no that couldn't be. Saffira said they have to stay wtihin very close range of the human, and his sisters have been running around duel academy and all over the place. No way could they sustain themselves 'that long' if they were duel monsters... especially if they had to be within arm's length of Joseph.

"Alright, so why would a duel spirit want to consume a human's soul if there's a much better option?" Alexis asked. "From what I'm hearing, living with a human as their pet spirit sounds like a sweet gig. I'd get a friend for life and you get to live in my world rent free so long as I'm around? So why would they consume a soul?"

"Simple... because a human's soul is far stronger in this world then our world by magnitudes, when we consume a human's soul... we gain 'enormous' power... but as said, it's not healthy because the soul is consumed... and in that moment we feel 'everything' that the soul ever felt in its life... every joy, sorrow, angry rant and fond memory down to when the person squished their finger on a door that closed a second quicker than they realized." She said with a yawn, feeling tired from talking. "In that moment... we relive their entire life... every second of it. We feel every emotion, thought and feeling they ever had from the moment they're born. And when it ends... well, we are changed 'forever' because of it... sometimes for the worse because we realize what it is we've done. To send a soul to the Shadow Realm is one thing, but to experience their every thought, feeling, and emotion from the moment they're born is a horrifying experience. For some duel spirits that actually feed on that energy, they do not 'care' because they ignore the soul's final gasp to exist."

As she got up she walked back over to the bed and laid down, and Alexis noticed that the bed seemed to be a bit closer then she last remembered, because when she last went over to it she felt her body start to stiffen and was unable to talk, as she became still as a statue. Now as the dragon duel spirit sat down and began to undress for a nap, she noticed first she could still move and then still talk.

"Uhm... is it just me or is the bed closer to the table then it was earlier?" She asked her.

"No... your eyes do not deceive you..." Saffira replied as she laid down. "As my strength wanes... my powers weaken... I do not have infinite energy." She raised her wrist and looked at the golden wristband that adorned her, the chain of her servitude. "I only have enough to carry out the task set before me... if I fail or take too long... I will enter the void or the shadow realm. But I'm sure you don't mind do you~."

As Saffira laid down and turned away, Alexis started thinking and actually felt a bit of sympathy for the duel spirit. But she was still a prisoner and was still going to try and send Joseph or even her friends to the Shadow Realm, and as such she wasn't exactly going to offer a hand of sympathy and say she's sorry for her situation.

Back at Duel Academy, the rest of the day went as one would have expected the day to go, ever moving onward regardless of what was happening in the lives of those living within the moment of the day. Time passed, students enjoyed their time off from classes, some went to spend it being tended to and being served by the girls of the cafe, Joseph's sisters. Others either lounged around in various areas, and some others still chose to spend it doing homework so they'd have more free time later. Joseph and his friends however, spent it preparing themselves for the events to come that midnight.

They tried their best to relax, but all of them with exception to Zane all felt a nervousness, Syrus and Joseph especially, Syrus because his brother was going to be dueling in a Shadow Game now, and Joseph because he was scared of losing another friend of his.

But eventually, as the night waned and soon the cafe closed its doors, the maids of the cafe bid farewell to all of their guests and especially Joseph. Sheou helped Joseph into his bed to make sure he slept well.

"Thanks for the tea Sheou." Joseph said as he handed her his cup alongside Chumley and Syrus.

"Yea thanks a heap."

"Most licious of you!"

"Of course, I thank you and your friends Young Master, now do you have any further need of me this night?" Sheou asked humbly as she accepted their cups and placed them on a tray to take out.

"Nah, I think I can go to bed on my own." Joseph laughed.

"Very well, pleasant dreams then Young Master. I shall see you in the morning." Sheou said with a final bow as she left, leaving Joseph, Syrus and Chumley to go to sleep.

However, instead of sleeping, they waited for a good half hour to make sure she wasn't coming back and then they got up and started getting dressed to head to the where they were meeting the others. As Joseph dressed up, his draconic friends began to appear with nervous expressions.

'Master, are you sure this is wise?' Nudyarl asked nervously.

'Yea... I'm all for rescuing Alexis but... this is still really dangerous exposing yourself like this!' Ernus whispered as she floated over to the door and poked her head through to check outside.

'We can just stay hidden and let Zane win the duel and glory without exposing yourself!' Lorpar suggested hopefully.

"Alright... let's get going guys." He said with a determined nod.

"Right." Both Syrus and Chumley said in unison.

'I told you girls he wouldn't listen.' Tinkech said with an exacerbated sigh, but as one they all floated behind him, following Joseph as he led the way out of the dorm and down to the ocean beach.

Minutes later Joseph was standing with the others by the ocean, where Syrus and Chumley said they'd been standing the last time they were challenged by Saffira. Zane was the only one with his academy issued duel disk, and was just staring out at the ocean with his arms crossed and a determined expression.

"What's the time?" Chazz asked impatiently.

"Quarter to midnight." Bastion stated.

Silence continued to reign as Joseph looked around, wondering where their opponent was. Eventually he got bored and walked up to Zane and tapped his arm, causing Zane to look at him.

"Hey Zane... are you sure you'll be fine facing Saffira?"

Zane nodded and once again turned back to the ocean, causing Joseph to sigh as he wished he had Zane's level of absolute confidence in himself.

"I wish I had your confidence." He muttered. "I was still nervous and afraid about dueling when I wanted to reclaim Tinkech..."

"It's not that I'm sure I'll be fine facing her Joseph." He said quietly, causing Joseph to look up at him. "It's just that there's no point in wasting energy being afraid or nervous. I know we have to duel, and I know the duel isn't going to be easy. That's something you need to understand... being afraid of what you don't know is understandable, but once you learn that you can't predict the exact outcome of a duel, you defeat the unknown's hold of you. When you have nothing to fear in regards to a duel... all you have to do then, is play the best game you can, and if you can do that... you'll have nothing to be afraid of then."

All of his Dragonmaids floated around him and nodded in agreement.

'Well, at least we don't have to worry about Zane ever losing!' Tinkech said warmly.

'Someone as strong as Zane losing, never ganna happen!' Nudyarl nodded in agreement.

'Maybe we shouldn't jinx it... just saying?' Lorpar suggested.

'Only one jinxing it at this point is you Lorpar...' Ernus muttered.

'That's not how jinxing works!' Lorpar yelled angrily.

More minutes passed until finally Bastion checked his watch and declared, "It's Midnight!" that something happened.

Hrooooooooar*

A horn sounded loudly and a light shined from off in the distance, moments later a long red carpet snaked its way across the water's surface and rolled toward them, plopping onto the pier at their feet where it lay still and motionless. Despite floating on the water, it did not sink or soak up the water it lay atop, something that amazed Joseph and his Dragonmaids as they looked at it.

"Whoa... whoever they are, they certainly know how to make an entrance." Joseph said.

"Yea they did this last time too." Chazz said as Zane took the lead and stepped onto the carpet and walked on it.

As they walked Joseph kept on expecting his feet to sink into the water, for the ocean to splash his shoes, for 'something' to happen because he couldn't believe that he was walking on a strip of carpet over the water.

'You know we've done a lot of weird things but this kinda takes the cake so far.' Tinkech muttered.

'Yeaaa, this kinda defies the laws of physics...' Nudyarl also muttered.

'Do not get started on physics, we slept through that class with Master Joseph remember?' Lorpar said grumpily.

'Yea... poor Master... got detention that week.' Ernus said sadly.

Joseph however ignored their banter as he walked behind Zane with the others following him. On and on they walked until eventually he started noticing that they were approaching a ship that as he got closer grew larger and larger, even more then he thought it should. The area around them was coated in a thick fog, preventing them from seeing further then beyond what the spotlight showed and the vessel itself. All the while he could hear the ocean flowing and surging around them and even under them, yet it still remained calm and quiet.

"Still just as big as last night." Chumley muttered.

"I don't know... that ship sort of looks smaller compared to last night, or am I the only one noticing that?" Bastion suggested as he looked at it. "I may just be eyeballing it, but to me the ship looks about twenty percent smaller compared to how we saw it last night."

"It was 'bigger' last night?" Joseph asked as he thought it looked like a cruise ship!

"To me at least, but then again, this all defies the laws of physics; a carpet that isn't getting wet 'despite' being on the ocean's surface, a thick fog that just subtly rolls in despite it being a full moon tonight and not a cloud in sight and conditions aren't right for fog to appear this far out from the island, the fact that a single article of cloth can just reach out to the pier and... you know what forget it, trying to apply scientific reasoning to all of this is going to just hurt my brain, and it's still not got enough sleep from last night." Bastion said as they neared the ship to board it.

'Even 'Bastion' doesn't want to apply science to our surroundings, and if he says he's not going to do it then you better not start!' Lorpar glared at both Nudyarl and Tinkech who were sheepishly grinning.

After a few seconds they found a small staircase that let them board the ship, and upon boarding they followed the carpeted path to wherever it was they had to go, and soon Joseph left the outside to the interior of the ship. Inside he looked around to see a giant cathedral like environment, with unbelievably ornate architecture, columns and stained-glass windows letting in moonlight from outside that should not be possible yet it was all around them. Their surroundings were akin to that of old architectural seatings, again found in a church, with low benches and chairs of soft oaken brown wood. To contrast this a large viewscreen hung next to the Chandelier above a vast open space below it.

The moonlight casting light into the room where high above them shown a brilliant chandelier that glistened and glittered light all around them. As for the glass windows, the stained-glass showed pictural images of dragons, specifically one dragon that seemed to be posed differently, created out of the image of various stars casting light around it. The dragon had not distinctive feature, and the only thing that each glass window shared in common was again, this dragon casting a light upon its surroundings as the centerpiece of each image.

Off on the opposite side a beautiful heavenly tune was playing, being created by an Organ, a church Organ. Playing this was... well Joseph could clearly see it was a Duel Spirit having gotten used to it. She, for she was a 'she', was a blue scaled feminine dragon not unlike his Dragonmaids, but unlike them who were clearly more 'dragon' than human, was a clear blending of the human and dragon form as she played the organ for them. Her large blue feathery wings enveloping her, each adorned with golden armor while her tail hung on the floor while the rest of her was adorned in silken white cloths and jewelry.

As she slowed her playing she turned and glanced at them all, before getting up and walking toward them, strapped to her arm was a draconic duel disk while a golden wristband bore a millennium eye.

"So that's Saffira?" He asked as his dragonmaids hid behind his shoulder, giving her menacing glares.

"Yea, that's the duel spirit that challenged us yesterday."

"Wow... she doesn't look all that dangerous or mean. You know, compared to Erebus."

"Pardon me if I'm stating the obvious, but last time we were here this room looked like an amphitheater... tell me I'm not the only one noticing the discrepancies." Bastion said in an undertone.

As she looked upon them all her eyes cast a glance upon Joseph and she smiled, almost like she was 'eager' to meet him, something that caught Joseph off guard as he shuddered in his shoes. His dragonmaids however were all snarling and emanating auras of burning fury as she observed the group.

Once she was in one corner of the little arena before them, she looked at them all again and said, "Welcome guests, I welcome you to my domain, my palace... my home... or as close as I can make it here. I see you've brought Joseph to me this time..." She said and gave him a friendly hello wave of her svelte hand. "Hello Joseph, fancy meeting you here... it's a pity you aren't my opponent, unless you wish to take the place of this 'Zane' who has accepted my challenge on your behalf?"

'Stay away from our master, he's ours, get your own man!' All four of the dragonmaids shouted in unison, breathing fire every time they spoke.

"Uh... what'd you just say?" He whispered to them.

'N-n-n-noooothing~!' They again said innocently, pretending to have little halos of innocence over their heads.

Zane however held his arm out to shield Joseph from her, face stern and set as he stared at his opponent. "Sorry, but if you want to get at Joseph, you're going to have to get past 'me'." He said. "I'll be your opponent, my name is Zane Truesdale, Duel Academy's top student and best duelist."

Saffira looked at him before sighing sadly in acceptance, waiting for Zane to step forward into the arena to begin the duel.

"Tell me Zane... are you perhaps in possession of this 'dragon' I seek, or perhaps 'are' you the dragon I speak of?" She asked politely, if not outright hopefully.

"Sorry lady, but I didn't come here for small talk, you want a dragon, you're going to have to 'duel' for it, end of story. Now either get your game on, or release my friend Alexis and get out of our lives. I gave up an entire day of finishing my homework preparing for this duel, and I've never missed or failed a single assignment since coming here, and I'm not going to let you hurt another friend of mine, let alone a friend of my little brother!"

Saffira actually looked disappointed as she shook her head, sad even to Joseph, before her face became set and she shouted, "Very well... I INITIATE THE SHADOW GAME!" and snapped her fingers, the ones of her left hand which had the shadow trinket.

Instantly a large ring of purple black fire erupted around her and began to encompass both her and Zane, who only glanced at the flames before focusing on his opponent, even as the fog began to roll in and cover them both, hiding those within from those outside.

"ZANE!" Syrus yelled, but his shout was muffled and outright silenced as he and his opponent were now encased in the Shadow Game.

To Joseph and everyone it looked like a giant electrical bubble of purple black fog, with the occasional wisp rolling off and the distant sound of thunder and lighting. It was just like before when Joseph was forced to duel in a Shadow Game... but this time he was on the outside, not on the inside... so now he knew what it looked like from his friends' perspective.

"Alright... game on." Chazz muttered for them all as he sat down in the chairs provided, and soon was joined by the others.

"From here on out, Zane's on his own." Bastion agreed.

"Zane... be careful bro... this isn't an ordinary duel anymore." Syrus also whispered fearfully as they watched the giant television to see how the duel went.

Inside the shadow game Zane mostly focused on his opponent, but even he couldn't resist glancing around at his new surroundings. He could have sworn he was about to hear his little brother shouting his name, but the second the fog rolled in, it was like the sound of his voice echoed into the distance, fading to nothing before even a single note could make it to his ears. Now all he heard was the distant sound of rolling thunder, as if a torrential rainstorm was about to pour down, and all he could see was a thick purple fog, no light penetrated it... it was as if the only source of light was found inside the bubble, and that was all they were allowed.

"So... this is a Shadow Game huh?"

"Yes... as you know by now... once a Shadow Game is initiated, neither of us can leave until the game is concluded, now we are permitted to set the stakes of this duel." Saffira said politely. "So... what will it be?"

"Alright, then in that case... for what you did to Alexis, after you lose, I want you to return her to us as she used to be, before you crystalized her. Then you can go to where you plan to send Joseph, the Shadow Realm!" He said coldly as he activated his duel disk.

Saffira closed her eyes and nodded in acceptance, looking downcast as she said, "I guess you 'aren't' the dragon I was seeking..."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm no dragon, I'm just a human fighting to get a pal of mine back and to keep you away from my littler brother's best friend!" He replied.

"I can see that... very well, then if I win, I'll have you share the same fate as Alexis... encased as a crystal sculpture, unable to move or speak except to me and me alone!" She said with a glare now as she too activated her duel disk now. "Now enough small talk as you said, let the shadow game begin!"

"DUEL!" They shouted together in unison as their decks were shuffled, life points set and their opening hands were distributed to them.

[Zane - 4000 / Saffira - 4000]

"Normally I'd be a gentleman and say ladies first, but since you turned my friend into a crystal statue, I'll take the first turn!" Zane declared.

"Very well... I'll yield to you." Saffira responded

"Oh, how polite, I draw!" He declared as he drew his first card from his deck.

[Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Nachster, Cyber Dragon Vier, Polymerization, Call of the Haunted, Cyber Phoenix (added).]

"Hmm, first off I'll start by activated the effect of ny Cyber Dragon Nachster!" He said as he grabbed the card in question. "By discarding one monster from my hand, I can special summon my Cyber Dragon Nachster to my field!"

He discarded his Cyber Dragon, sending it to the grave and then placing Nachster onto his field in defense mode. His Cyber Dragon appeared on the field with a smooth stainless steel white color scheme, with mechanical wings as it roared at his opponent before slowly curling up into a defensive posture.

[Cyber Dragon Nachster, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 1, 200 Atk/200 Def]

"Now, due to it's effect... since it was summoned to the field, I can special summon 'one' machine type monster from my graveyard, as long as its attack or defense is 2100. Good thing my Cyber Dragon qualifies!"

Nachster turned to its left and opened its mouth, casting a beam of energy onto the space where Cyber Dragon roared onto the field, its metallic overlapping plate-like armor looking more course and rough compared to Nachster's smooth stainless steel. Cyber Dragon 'roared' as it too made its appearance and took up an attack posture.

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

Suddenly Nachster began glowing, and another monster began to appear.

"Oh, would you look at that, since Cyber Dragon Nachster is on the field, its name automatically becomes 'Cyber Dragon while it's there or in the grave. Which means since I summoned out a Cyber Dragon, both from the grave 'and' the hand, but either qualifies, Cyber Dragon 'Vier' now summons itself from my hand to the field in defense mode!" He said as he played Vier now.

The pinkish metalic hue of Vier now presented itself as Cyber Dragon Vier hit the field, its pinkish metalic plate armor contrasting to the steel whites of both Dragon and Nachster. It roared in cybernetic sound as it curled up and protected Zane from harm.

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

"And while Vier is on the field, it's name 'also' becomes Cyber Dragon while there or in the grave. And while he's on the field, all of my Cyber Dragons gain five hundred attack and defense points!" Zane declared loudly as his dragons roared in sheer dominating power.

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

[Cyber Dragon (Nachster) 200 Atk / 200 Def – 700 Atk / 700 Def]

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

Saffira was looking at the three cybernetic dragons in sheer surprise, she was not expecting to see such an overwhelming number on Zane's very first turn.

"I'm not done, since all of these are special summons, I still have my normal summon, so say hello to Cyber Phoenix!"

He played his last monster now, and on the field a metalic-steel white bird rose up from its card, four wings with pitch red feathers. It screeched its battle cry as it stood beside Zane's other 'Cyber' cards.

[Cyber Phoenix, Fire Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 4, 1200 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Long time no see, miss the card description and effect reader, well I'm back. If Cyber Phoenix is in attack mode, you can negate any spell or trap effect that targets 1 machine type monster you control and no other cards. If this card should ever be destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, you can draw 1 card from your deck to your hand.]

Saffira actually started looking nervous as she saw the array of monsters standing before her, she had to count to make sure she was not misjudging the field. "Four monsters in one turn?" She asked incredulously.

"And not 'one' card in my graveyard or banished from the field. That's the skill of Duel Academy's top duelist, I'm not like Joseph who'd take his time with his opponent or would play defensive, I'm going to wipe your life points out as quickly as possible to rescue Alexis and keep Joseph safe! But since it's my first turn, I have to wait... so I'll end with one face down... good luck!" Zane said as he placed Call of the Haunted down.

Saffira looked down at her cards as she drew, "My draw... hurmm..." She whispered as she glanced at Zane's field. "Very well... I activate... 'One Day of Peace! This card lets us both draw one card... and now until my next turn, neither of us can take damage to our life points."

On the field her magic card was played, and a samurai looking warrior removed his helmet, walked toward zane and held out a scroll to him as he bowed, before vanishing.

"Fine, I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you." Zane said as he drew his card as well as Saffira.

[Attack Reflector Unit]

Saffira looked at her cards and sighed, "I end my turn!"

Zane silently drew his card and said, "I pass as well!" as he saw his card was [De-Fusion]

Saffira actually looked surprised, was he not going to play a card face down, change his monster's battle position... nothing?

"What's wrong, forgot how to play the game?" Zane asked politely. "Alright, first step, you enter the draw phase, this is where you draw a card from the top of your deck to begin the turn, then you enter the standby phase... if any effects happen that require this step to begin then you activate them, after that we enter the main phase where you can then either summon monsters, activate spells, set traps or even activate them... this is all of course the basics... they have a lesson plan at the academy for those who forget the different phases, if you need one."

Outside the duel field everyone was watching Zane's field from the start, and they were all in agreement that Zane certainly deserved his place as the top student at the academy.

"Whoa, talk about a powerhouse lineup from the word go!" Joseph stammered in amazement.

"Indeed, not only did he get two powerful monsters on the offense with a third in the wing, he also has an incredible defense thanks to that Cyber Phoenix, and if for any reason he needs to hold the line, he has defenders in place with a card face down to boot!" Bastion said. "Not a bad start indeed!"

"Heh, looks like we'll have Alexis back and be back in bed in time for breakfast!" Chazz said with a grin.

"Licious, I can go for a big grilled cheese!" Chumley said.

"That's my brother! Course, I still got the good looks!" Syrus chuckled.

'We rate that opening 'ten out of ten'!' Lorpar said as she and the other dragons raised four signs that each had a 10... except for Ernus who had a 9.5.

As one Nudyarl, Lorpar, Tinkech all started at Ernus with glares.

'What... none of them are dragon types... sorry, I'm a stick for names and types matching!'

Back inside the duel Saffira took a steadying breath as she drew her card and looked at it, before again looking at the field.

"I activate Stray Lambs; this magic card lets me special summon 2 'Lamb Token's to my field in defense mode!" She said, playing her magic card.

She played her card and two little adorable lambs appeared, one white and one beige-pink, both with curled horns and looking absolutely harmless.

[Lamb Token, Earth Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 0 Atk / 0 Def]

"I can't summon for the rest of the turn, but I can still set, so I'll sacrifice my two tokens to play a monster in defense mode, face down! Then I'll set four cards face down to end my turn!"

Four cards were placed in her back row as the two tokens were sacrificed, with another monster being set to defend her points.

Zane drew his card and declared, "I activate 'Polymerization!" he said the instant he saw the card he'd drew was [Cyber Repair Plant]

He played polymerization on the field and all three of his Cyber Dragons began to be merged together.

"With this card I can fusion summon a monster using monsters on my hand or field, and the monster I'm summoning is a Fusion Monster that requires 'three' Cyber Dragons... so say hello to my Cyber End Dragon!"

On the field a mechanical central body with massive mechanical wings erupted from the ground, soon followed by three serpentine, metallic dragon heads extended and combined their roars in an unyielding unwavering burst of power. All three heads looked to Saffira's field as she stared at this awesome power before her.

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

As his ace monster appeared on the field, she actually felt a twinge of fear, that thing was quite the powerful monster, he wasn't like the other duelists she'd spied on. "Quite the monster you got there..."

"That's right, now get ready to see his power in full force, Cyber End Dragon, attack her face down monster!"

Cyber End Dragon's three mouths opened up and charged up plasma flames before launching them at the face down monster.

"Not even a hint of hesitation huh, then I activate my face down trap cards!" Saffira said as she flicked her duel disk's switches. "First, I activate the trap card Waboku, when this trap is activated, my monsters cannot be destroyed in battle and I take no battle damage! My second card is Enchanted Javelin, when this is activated, I gain life points equal to the attack power of your attacking monster... and before you think about it, this trap card doesn't 'target' so your Cyber Phoenix's effect won't work on it!"

The trap cards activated and a javelin appeared in front of her monster to absorb the attack, but instead of absorbing it, the plasma attacks sputtered and died before they could reach her face down monster.

"Wh-what just happened, why aren't my points going up?" She asked in confusion until she saw on the field, a magic card had been activated and the three monsters that made up Cyber End Dragon had returned to the field in their original positions.

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

[Cyber Dragon (Nachster), Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 1, 200 Atk/200 Def]

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

[De-Fusion]

"Nice try, but I had a feeling you'd do that, which is why I chained my De-Fusion quick play spell card to your enchanted Javelin!" Zane said. "While I can't destroy your monster, I can certainly negate your other trap by removing it's intended target! Since my monster is no longer attacking you can't gain life points from my fusion monster. But let's cut to the chase, Cyber Dragon attack with strident blast!"

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

Cyber Dragon began to ignite its main attack before launching it at the face down monster.

"But my monster can't be destroyed in battle? Why would you attack me in the first place?" Saffira asked in confusion as her face down monster was revealed to be Hyozanryu. In a flash a dragon made entirely of Diamond with sparkling wings and golden tipped claws and horns appeared and spread its wings to absorb the attack. It reflected it off to the side and roared at the attacker.

[Hyozanryu, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Normal Monster, lvl 7, 2100 Atk / 2800 Def]

"You're right, I can't destroy it, and I knew from the start you'd summon a monster stronger than my Cyber Dragon since my first turn. How else would you survive an attack?" He asked her. "But I also know you don't use 'any' effect monsters, and even if you did, I have an insurance policy with Cyber Phoenix. The reason I attacked was so I can see what it is I'm up against. I can spare a few points for information that critical!"

"You truly underestimate this game you're in!" Saffira said with a snarl. "Or have you forgotten that in a shadow duel, the damage you take is 'real'!"

[Zane - 4000 – 3800 / Saffira - 4000]

As she said that, he felt a sudden stab in his heart, he clutched at his chest and started breathing more heavily. The feeling had only been fleeting, but in that moment, it felt like he'd had a sudden heart attack. That was when his calm attitude wavered slightly, as he felt a twinge of panic, realizing she was right this time. This wasn't an ordinary duel, this was a 'shadow game' and that meant the damage was real.

"Grhg... if that was just a tickle of life point damage... what would happen if I'd been hit by something worse? She's right... I can't take even a single point for granted." He whispered to himself as he quickly recovered. "Thanks for the tip... now I end my turn with a face down!"

He played his Attack Reflector Unit face down and used the moment to recollect himself. It was only minor damage, he told himself, nothing he couldn't handle, focus on the duel.

"Feeling the effects of the duel now?" Saffira taunted as she drew her card and smirked. "I play a monster face down to end my turn!"

Zane just drew his card and saw that it was [Photon Generator Unit], then looked at the field and said, "I activate Photon Generator Unit, this magic card lets me tribute two Cyber Dragons to special summon from my hand, deck or graveyard, Cyber Laser Dragon in defense mode!" He said.

[Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon (Nachster) - tributes]

Both Cyber Dragon and Cyber Dragon Nachster vanished from the field, being replaced by a new Cyber Dragon, it looked similar to Cyber Dragon but its tail bulged ever so slightly and then split open to reveal a laser cannon. It hissed angrily as it stared at her field.

"But don't think this is a downgrade, see Cyber Laser Dragon has a special ability, and he's got your Hyozanryu in his sights!" Zane declared as Cyber Laser Dragon took aim and blasted Hyozonryu with its laser.

The laser flashed and blasted her dragon, destroying it and sending it from the field to the graveyard.

"Grugh... my dragon, how did you destroy it?"

"My Laser Dragon's special ability lets him destroy one monster on the field with an attack or defense equal to or 'higher' then 'his' attack value. Now that your strongest monster is gone, I activate my face down card, Call of the Haunted, this trap card lets me special summon one monster from my grave into face up attack mode, so come on back Cyber Dragon Nachster!"

Zane's first trap card was flipped face up and immediately Nachster appeared in front of it, emanating a glowing light as it cast its beam to its side.

[Cyber Dragon (Nachster), Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 1, 200 Atk/200 Def]

"You remember Nachster's ability don't you, when he's summoned to the field, I can target a machine monster with 2100 attack or defense in my graveyard and summon it to the field... and guess who's sitting there?"

In a swirl of light Cyber Dragon roared back onto the field and challenged Saffira's face down monster.

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

Saffira grimaced as she stared at the array of monsters in front of her, these Cyber monsters were not leaving nor were they relenting. "I bet you get all the girls' phone numbers with displays like this." She commented.

"Hardly, I don't often have this many out at once, you're the exception!"

"Oh, I'm so special."

"You wish, Cyber Dragon attack her face down monster with Strident Blast!" Zane ordered.

Cyber Dragon prepared to unleash another burst of plasma energy from its mouth, then when it was ready it launched it at the face down monster, but not before 'another' trap card activated. It was an all too familiar trap that Zane was used to seeing.

"I activate my face down Mirror Force, now not only is your attack negated, it sends your attack right back at you, destroying all of your attack position monsters!"

The mirror force reflected the attack back and sent a tidal wave of energy back at the monsters opposing her, in a flash a massive explosion took place, obscuring her field of view. But she breathed a sigh of relief. She had hoped to save her trap for later, given what her monster on the field was, but she couldn't hold back against 'this' duelist.

The information her little friends told her about his deck was underestimated. She had to keep his monsters down and keep them from growing in number, let alone strength. While she would have preferred to blast every attack position monster he had, she'd have to settle for the three and be happy with it.

But as the dust settled and her vision was restored, she saw not two but 'three' Cyber Dragons on the field with a new one now. This new one looked just like the original Cyber Dragon, but instead of a laser cannon on the end, it featured a large octagonal shaped 'neck piece' wrapped around its neck with little extensions to complete it.

[Cyber Barrier Dragon, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 6, 800 Atk / 2800 Def]

"Another one?" She asked.

"You seem surprised... but just to explain, when you activated your Mirror Force, I chained my remaining trap card 'Attack Reflector Unit!" Zane said as he beckoned to the face up trap card, a trap card featuring Cyber Dragon surrounded by construction cranes, each holding up sheets of metal that looked like mirrors. "When this trap card is activated, I can tribute 'one' Cyber Dragon from my field to special summon Cyber Barrier Dragon from my hand or deck, and I naturally summoned it into defense mode to protect him from your Mirror Trap."

She growled in frustration. "So instead of destroying your monsters, the only cards I destroyed were your Cyber Phoenix and Cyber Dragon Nachster!" She stated.

"Yep, a good duelist always makes sure to keep some of your resources intact just in case their opponent lays down a Mirror Force, now I end my turn."

Saffira drew her next card and gave a little smirk. "I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

Suddenly several swords made of light stabbed into the ground, surrounding Zane's monsters and causing him to look at them only for a moment before focusing on Saffira.

"Thanks to this card, you cannot attack me for the next three turns. With that I end my turn."

Zane silently drew his next card and saw that it was [Cyber Kirin],

"Since I can't attack you this turn, I'll switch all of my monsters into attack mode and end my turn." He said as all three of his monsters entered attack mode, Vier, Laser and Barrier.

Outside of the bubble Joseph's friends were still feeling positive, but it was clear that Saffira's game plan of stalling out the duel had just started and was currently working to plan. Zane had lost his initial good fortune with an amazing opening, stopped only from winning because he'd accepted the first turn. Now he was laying in the hurt by summoning out some of his more powerful monsters, even bringing out Cyber End Dragon on his third turn despite passing the second. He'd even countered some of Saffira's attempts to slow the duel down and turn his own monster's attack against him. But now the duel has begun to stall.

"Honestly, considering the situation it's not half bad for Zane." Bastion said.

"Yea, he's still got some powerful hitters on the field." Chazz said in agreement.

"It's sweet seeing Barrier and Laser Dragon together!" Syrus said as he smiled seeing his bro in the driver's seat, despite the 200-point difference.

"What do those two do, I've never seen them used before." Joseph said.

"Barrier Dragon acts like a giant defensive monster for Zane, while Laser Dragon is his offensive powerhouse when his fusion monsters aren't on the field." Syrus explained. "Laser can destroy a monster on the field if that monster has more attack or defense then Laser Dragon's attack, and Barrier can negate one attack per turn while it's in attack mode!"

"Impressive." Chumley said. "No wonder he's the king of Duel Academy!"

'You know I just realized we don't have a lot of options when it comes to blowing up cards or negating things...' Nudyarl muttered.

'Yea... we usually just blow things up with our attack points...' Ernus said in agreement.

'I want to negate attacks now...' Lorpar moaned.

'We're fine... our job is to assist master and win duels!' Tinkech yelled at them.

Joseph listened to the girls doing their usual antics but focused on the duel more now as it was Saffira's turn, waiting for that field spell to appear but hoping that Zane could win before it was played.

"Come on Zane... don't let her win!"

Back inside the duel Zane was standing waiting for his opponent to take her turn, watching as she drew her card and looked at it. Saffira looked back at Zane with a gulp as she still stared at his front line of monsters. "Tell me duelist, why did you accept this duel... you know full well that what happens here is real, and if you lose... well you know what will happen do you?"

Zane raised his eyebrow and replied, "The real question why are you stalling, I told you, I'm here to duel... not talk, so make your move already."

"You really don't know how to be nice to a lady, didn't your mother teach you any manners?" She said with a frown.

"Yes, but she never taught me how to treat a dragon who threatens my friends and turns them into crystal statues, so I think you're the exception to the rule."

"Touche..." Saffira said as she took the card she drew and played it. "I activate Graceful Charity!"

On the field her magic card appeared and activated its effects on the deck. "Now thanks to this magic card, I get to draw three cards from my deck, but I must discard two cards to play it." She said as she drew her cards and smiled. "I'll send these two to the grave..."

The cards in question that she showed him were [Fairy Dragon, Yamatano Dragon Scroll] while the other card remained in her hand. "With that I end my turn."

Zane silently drew his card and looked at it, [Cyber Revsystem] and said, "I activate my Cyber Revsystem magic card, this lets me special summon 'one' Cyber Dragon from my graveyard or hand, and it cannot be destroyed by Card Effects as a result!" He said.

On the field Cyber Revsystem activated, and from the graveyard in front of it, Cyber Dragon Nachster once more rose to the field in attack mode this time. Just like previous times, when it appeared, it cast a light on the spot next to it.

"Since you've seen Nachster do its thin twice now... you know what comes next, so I'll spare you the explanation."

Saffira growled as she saw that accursed cybernetic dragon 'again' rise to the field. "Cyber Dragon Nachster becomes 'Cyber Dragon' on the field... and then summons your Cyber Dragon from the grave!"

"You've been paying attention..." Zane said as Cyber Dragon emerged and roared at her again. "With that I end my turn. Two turns down, one more to go before you're in my dragons' line of sight, that face down monster won't keep you safe forever, and as for that face down in the back, it won't keep you safe 'either'."

Saffira grimaced as she stared at her last card from her second turn. She drew her next card and gulped again.

"Geh... I activate Soul of the Pure to increase my life points by 800 points!" She said.

[Zane - 3800 / Saffira – 4000 - 4800]

"With that I end my turn!"

"Hmpf." Zane whispered said as he drew his card and looked at it before looking at her field. [Mystical Space Typhoon].

He had a choice to make here, he knows her strategy involves tokens and normal monsters, but he 'still' wasn't sure she had 'only' normal monsters in her deck. At the same time that face down she'd played many turns ago could have activated multiple times, yet didn't. That meant either two things, one she was holding it in reserve or two it's conditions to activate haven't been achieved yet.

'I could destroy her Swords of Light card and launch an assault, but if that face down is a dangerous card I could be throwing away my advantage. On the other hand, the longer I wait, the more likely she'll be able to achieve her objective. I can't let that happen... I can deal with her tokens and any normal monsters, but I absolutely cannot allow any surprises to be in her favor.' He thought to himself as he decided on his strategy. "I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your face down card!"

[Mystical Space Typhoon]

The spell card was played and instantly a cyclone of wind sped toward the face down to destroy it.

"Gkch... I activate my face down, Scapegoat!" She shouted back, flipping her face down spell card up. "Now I summon four sheep tokens to the field in defense mode!"

Her spell card was destroyed, but not before four colorful sheep tokens appeared on her remaining four monster spaces.

[Sheep Token, Earth Attribute, Normal Monster, lvl 1, 0 Atk / 0 Def x4]

Zane smirked as he said, "You were planning to use that to soak up more damage, or if things went according to your plans, you'd trigger your Token Stampedes after activating that card, ensuring you had multiple offensive threats. Too bad I can read your strategy like an open book."

"Grrregg..."

"I can't attack this turn, but this is the last turn your Swords will hold me back, better hope you draw something important next turn because now my Cyber Dragons are free to blast your helpless tokens and normal monsters!" He said as the swords began to flicker and vanish, fading away as he ended his turn, and with their vanishing his Cyber Dragons all roared together.

Saffira looked at her deck and nodded, drawing her next card and glancing back to the field. "I play three cards face down to end my turn!" She said, playing all three cards in her hand face down.

"Is that all, I expected more from a Shadow Duelist, aren't you guys supposed to make us feel fear?" He asked as he drew his card.

She just stood there silently as she closed her eyes and softly whispered, "You don't understand... I don't want to do this to you." in a voice so quiet Zane didn't hear her.

[Pot of Greed]

Zane looked at the card he drew and shouted, "I play the magic card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards!" as it was activated and then did as said, drawing two cards from his deck.

[Fusion Sage, Cyber Network]

"I activate Fusion Sage, which lets me add one Polymerization to my hand from my deck, next I'll activate it to fuse my Cyber Dragon Vier, Cyber Dragon Nachster, and Cyber dragon to once again form!" Zane said as the polymerization activated and pulled all three Cyber Dragons into it and creating a powerful burst of light. "My Cyber End Dragon!"

Once more Cyber End Dragon's powerful form emerged onto the battlefield where it roared and frightened her little sheep tokens with its devastating power. All four Token shuddered despite still looking cute.

"Next, I activate the spell card, Cyber Repair Plant, due to its effect, since there are 'three' Cyber Dragons in my grave, I can now activate 'both' of its effects. First, I add one Light Machine monster from my deck to my hand... and I think I'll another Cyber Dragon, but this one will be the Core! As for the second, I'll shuffle back the Nachster in my grave back into the deck!"

[Added, Cyber Dragon Core to hand, Cyber Dragon Nachster shuffled into deck]

"Now I'll Summon Core to my field. Due to its effect, when this card is summoned, I can add a 'Cyber' spell from my deck to my hand... and I think I know the one I want."

As Cyber Dragon Core was summoned, a very bare bones version of his Cyber Dragon that looked like a mechanical snake, with various red wires connected to it, it turned and latched the wires to his duel disk and deck, sending a surge of energy into it, extracting his desired card.

[Cyber Dragon Core, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 2, 400 Atk / 1500 Def]

He took the card and instantly played it.

[Cyber Revsystem]

"Another one?" She asked incredulously.

"You recognize it, how wonderful... this lets me special summon my Cyber Dragon from the grave with the added bonus that it can't be destroyed by card effects!" Zane said as he summoned his Cyber Dragon 'again' into the final remaining open slot on his field.

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

He once again had five monsters on the field, Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Core, Cyber Laser Dragon, Cyber Barrier Dragon, and Cyber End Dragon!

"Now... you have three face downs... let's see what you're hiding behind door number 1!" Zane shouted as his dragons readied themselves. "Cyber End Dragon attack the Sheep Token on the far left with Strident BLAZE!"

Cyber End Dragon reared its heads back and then launched its triple headed assault onto the lone sheep token. Instantly one of the face downs Saffira had was triggered face up.

"I activate the trap card Enchanted Javelin, let's try this again shall we!" Saffira said boldly as her trap appeared to protect the token. "This card takes your attacking monster's attack points and adds them to my life points! Thanks for the four-thousand-point boost, I'll put this to good use! After all, since my Token's in defense mode, you can't hurt my life points!"

[Zane - 3800 / Saffira – 4800 – 8800]

"Oh, you're not ganna be keeping those points for long, you see Cyber End Dragon's ability allows it to deal piercing battle damage!" Zane said calmly. "And with 0 defense points, you're going to feel every single point of damage directly done to you!"

Saffira's eyes opened wide as Cyber End Dragon redoubled its assault and blasted 'through' her trap card, striking the token and dealing the full might of its attack value in damage!

"GYraaaaaaAAAAAH!" She screamed in agony as she felt the plasma burns coursing through her body.

[Zane - 3800 / Saffira – 8800 – 4800]

Zane saw the aftermath of the explosive damage dealt to her; he only waited a few moments for her to recover before she ordered his next dragon. "Cyber Dragon Core, take out that second sheep Token!"

Cyber Dragon Core opened its mouth and launched a thin beam of electrical energy at the token, which shuddered, expanded, and then exploded like a giant balloon.

"Cyber Laser Dragon, you're turn, wipe out the third token!"

Cyber Laser Dragon opened its laser tail, took careful aim, and then 'fired' at the token which evaporated after squealing in terror.

"Cyber Barrier Dragon, you're turn, wipe out the last token!"

Saffira watched as her last token was panicking in fear, squealing for mercy as Cyber Barrier Dragon tucked its head into its body, created an electrical surge of energy, and then fired a plasma burst at the token.

"With that your last monster on the field is alone, and since you never activated the other cards, that means you don't mind losing your defenses, or you 'can't' activate those traps. Time to find out what your 'last' line of defense is... Cyber Dragon attack!" Zane ordered as he pointed at the face down monster.

Cyber Dragon's 2100 attack points were readied, and in a singular blast of plasma energy, the final monster was struck before it even had the 'chance' to flip over and reveal what it was.

The entourage of devastation was accompanied by a massive cloud of dust, resulting in his vision of her side of the field being obscured. He couldn't see what had happened as a result of his attack, but whatever it was he had to be patient. He held no thoughts that he just won the duel; it wasn't over until the last life point was destroyed.

Moments passed as the smoke began to dissipate... but finally, after a few more seconds it faded enough to allow him to see...

Four 'more' sheep tokens it looked like, but they looked more like 'ghosts'.

As for the face down monster that was destroyed, the shattered remains of the card said it was [Scape Ghost], with the four new monsters being identified as...

[Black Sheep Token, Dark Attribute, Zombie Type, Normal Monster, 0 Atk / 0 Def x4]

"What, 'more' tokens?" He asked incredulously.

"Hmhmahaha HAHAHAHAHA!" Saffira shouted almost hysterically as she saw for the first time his bravado break, no longer acting so 'confident' like before. "Surprised to see a 'non' normal monster, let alone a non 'dragon' in my deck... I happen to have been doing... shall we say... 'research' before our duel."

"Explain..."

"Hmhmhm... your deck is very powerful... as I surmised... I truly stood no chance in a straight up fight against you... but... even 'you' have your weaknesses. I have your little brother to thank for sharing the information with me." Saffira said as one of the Black Sheep Tokens floated near her, allowing her to pet it. "Your brother should be more 'careful' about what he gets for free. As the saying goes... never look a gift horse in the face... unless it's being given to you by someone who hides 'their' face."

Zane stared at the token and its blank, dead stare as it looked at him... until he realized it reminded him of the Sheep Plushies that were being given away days ago. His little brother had an extra that he was going to give to Joseph, but Joseph didn't want one, so he gave him the second instead. The plush toy... he'd been looking over his deck in front of that toy sitting on his desk!

"You... you were spying on my deck, on all of our decks, on all of us!" He accused her. "With those plush toys, you left them there for all of us to take."

Saffira nodded as she patted the token before nudging it back to the field. "You humans are so easy to manipulate without even realizing it. Just put something cute, fluffy, and 'free' in front of you and you'll happily take it without even thinking about it. Without any thoughts like 'who is giving me this toy' or 'why do I need it', or why is it even there to begin with?" She said. "So... any other moves you have planned?"

He sneered before he calmed himself down, forcefully, before looking at his hand. He had [Cyber Network, Cyber Kirin] in his hand, and his five Cyber Dragons on the field. Meanwhile his opponent just had those four tokens, and two face down still to activate. He had an idea what her plan for next turn was, and unfortunately, he couldn't stop her with what he had.

"I play a card face down to end my turn!" He said, playing Cyber Network face down.

"My turn, I draw." She said as she looked at her hand and smiled. "Excellent... I play one card face down... and switch all of my Tokens into attack mode!"

He grimaced as he watched the Tokens move forward to bring their tiny horns to bare against his Cyber Dragons.

"You know what's coming... I initiate the battle phase... go my Black Sheep Tokens!" She said as her tokens floated forward, their dead white eyes belying their aggressive postures. "Now I activate my trap cards, Token Stampede, one 'and' two! With each one active, my Tokens gain one thousand attack points and cannot be destroyed in battle! Now my Tokens, gain your power and destroy that Cyber Dragon Core!"

The two face downs flipped over to reveal the Token Stampede trap card, and instantly all four harmless tokens turned into cruel, malicious looking monsters with elongated sharpened horns, sneering mouths opened to reveal sharpened teeth and evil red eyes.

[Black Sheep Token x4 0 Atk / 0 Def – 2000 Atk / 0 Def – Battle Destruction Immunity Granted]

The first Token surged forward to attack the Cyber Dragon Core.

"I activate Cyber Barrier Dragon's special ability!" Zane shouted as his dragon tucked its head in and began pulsing green protective energy in front of his field. "Once per turn I can negate 'one' attack from my opponent's monsters while he's in attack mode!"

The protective shield repulsed the first Token, and with the protection gone Barrier Dragon returned to normal.

"You stopped 'one' token, now can you stop the others?" Saffira asked as the second token took up where the first left off, charging Cyber Dragon Core and bashing its horns into the core.

Cyber Dragon Core was hammered and destroyed, resulting in the first 'true' damage Saffira had dealt to Zane. Instantly he flinched and grabbed at his stomach this time, feeling like he'd just been kicked by a horse, no, a 'goat'. He could feel the pain from his monster and coughed hard, his nose dripping tiny drops of blood.

[Zane - 3800 – 2200 / Saffira – 4800]

"Guuuughr... haaah... haaaahr... nnngh!"

"Now here comes Token number 3, attack Cyber Barrier Dragon!"

The third token charged at the Cyber Barrier Dragon, who roared and tried to counter attack, but the token nimbly dodged out of the path and headbutted Barrier Dragon, sending it flying backward and blowing up in a pillar of smoke and fire. Just like before Zane felt the pain his monster felt as it was destroyed, this time he clutched his chest as it felt like his lungs were pierced, he coughed again and this time he spat a few drops of blood out of his mouth onto the floor.

[Zane – 2200 – 1000 / Saffira – 4800]

"Blagh ooofgh... harh... haaaah haaah."

His Cyber Dragons all glanced down at him, as if seemingly reacting to his pain and looking at him with the closest thing they had to a worried expression they could show.

He breathed heavily, stood up straight as Saffira looked at him with a pained expression, almost like she was sorry for his suffering.

"Is... that all... you got?" He asked her.

"Please... don't act so tough... it's alright to admit you're in over your head..."

"I'm not finished YET!" He said as he drew his card and looked at it. [Super Strident Blaze.]

He glanced at her field and said, "I activate the equip spell card, Super Strident Blaze, now I equip to my Cyber End Dragon, now attack her Token now!"

Cyber End Dragon roared as it prepared to assault her token, but instantly the third face down she played activated, revealing itself to be [Token Stampede], instantly all four Tokens gained another power boost.

[Black Sheep Token x4 2000 Atk / 0 Def – 3000 Atk / 0 Def – Battle Destruction Immunity Granted]

"Sorry, but my tokens get another one thousand attack points, thanks to the 'third' Token Stampede trap card I've got in play!" She declared.

"That's fine by me, because while your tokens may be invincible your Life Points aren't, now go, Strident Blaze!"

Cyber End Dragon unleashed its attack on the token which snarled and charged, but it was shoved back and enveloped by the plasma fire. The remaining plasma fire encompassed Saffira now who tried to shield herself, but screamed in agony from the damage done to her.

"Heyaaaaaaah! Haaaaahraaa!"

[Zane – 1000 / Saffira – 4800 - 3800]

She breathed heavily as she slowly recovered from the assault.

"Funny thing about my equip spell card, I forgot to mention it's effect... if my Cyber End Dragon attacks a monster while it's equipped, I can banish a Cyber Dragon from my grave, and let it attack again! Good thing I've got some Cyber Dragons... remember, Cyber Dragon 'Vier', and Cyber Dragon 'Core' change their names to Cyber Dragon on the field or in the graveyard! So, I'll banish one dragon, and have Cyber End Dragon attack again!"

Saffira's eyes went wide as Cyber Dragon Core's card appeared in front of Super Strident Blaze, causing it to glow, which made Cyber End Dragon ready it's attack again, launching its triple plasma burst into the token one more time. Again, Saffira screamed in pain and agony as she was enveloped by the flames.

"Hyaoaaaaaraaaaah!" She cried loudly.

[Zane – 1000 / Saffira – 3800 - 2800]

"I'm not done yet, I banish 'another' dragon, and attack again!" Zane declared as he banished Cyber Dragon Vier, resulting in the same combination as last time, once more Cyber End Dragon charged up its attack and launched it at Zane's command. Once again, the token charged forward to take the hit, but the result was still the same, Saffira felt 'all' of the pain.

"Ghay ghyaaaaaaaaraaaah!"

[Zane – 1000 / Saffira – 2800 - 1800]

As the attack ended Saffira collapsed to the floor, smoldering and covered in burns, she was weeping in pain, panting for breath while muttering words like, 'Please... no more... no more... don't hurt me again... not again! I don't wanna do this anymore!'

Zane panted as he had no more moves to play. "The downside to using this card's effect, is that no other monster on my field can attack after its activated. Now I switch both my other Cyber Dragons into defense mode. I then activate Cyber Laser Dragon's effect, he can destroy 'one' face up monster on your field if its attack power is equal to or 'less' then his, your tokens may be safe from battle, but not from my Laser Dragon's effect!"

Laser Dragon curled up defensively, but as it did so it raised its tail, opened up the cannon and aimed at a token. In a flash of electrical energy a token was destroyed, leaving only three still.

"Now I activate my face down, Cyber Network, this trap card lets me banish one of my Cyber Dragons from my deck, but in three turns I destroy it, I banish Cyber Dragon!"

[Cyber Network activated – Cyber Dragon banished. Total Banished, '3', 1 by this effect]

"With that I end my turn..."

He was panting, this was not what he was expecting from a Shadow Duel, yea, he knew it wasn't going to be easy, and when he was told the pain is real, the damage was real... he was 'ready' to feel it. But the actual pain, the actual feeling of the damage being done... it was not what he was ready for. He was in so much pain he could barely hold his last card in in his hand. His body was shaking and his chest was heaving, it felt like his lungs were on fire, like every muscle was screaming to sit down and rest!

But as Saffira slowly forced herself to stand up, slowly and shakily stood on her feet, she turned to him and looked far worse for wear. Though she had more life points, her body was covered in burns and scars, she looked even worse off than how he felt. She too was panting, breathing heavily, her once beautiful scales were all bent and charred from the repeated blasts from his Cyber End Dragon.

"I can't... I can't lose... please understand that this isn't personal, I must... I must find the dragon!" She whispered angrily, a desperate glare in her eyes, eyes full of fear and despair as she stared at him. "My soul is on the line; my very existence is on the line no matter what I do... I 'can't' lose now! Not until I-"

She went to touch her deck to draw, but the instant her finger made contact with the top card, it was like she suddenly stopped breathing and stopped talking. She looked warily at the card she was about to draw, shaking her head slightly as if hoping that action would stop whatever it was that she was about to draw from being drawn. Then she grabbed it, as if by 'force'... and pulled it out of the deck to look at it, and again, her eyes looked horrified at the card she was seeing.

She looked at him with an apologetic expression before her face's expression became set, and she loudly proclaimed, "Forgive me... because I can't stop this... even if I didn't want to do it... I play the field spell, Forbidden Mirror of the Dragon Realm! Once played this card cannot be stopped!"

He watched as she played the field spell, and directly behind her a giant draconic oval shaped mirror rose. It was as the card was played that Zane realized that from this moment onward, there had to be no holding back. Either he wins versus this card, or he'll be turned into a Crystal.

"Now that this card is activated, until this turn's end you cannot respond to this card's effects nor its activation with 'any' of your cards. And the first effect is this... upon activating, Forbidden Mirror of the Dragon Realm destroys 'all other' cards on the field besides itself, sending them to the graveyard!"

"What?" He shouted in disbelief as the mirror glowed and sent out a beam of light that began wiping across the field, starting with Saffira's backrow.

[Token Stampede x3 Destroyed]

[Black Sheep Token – 3000 Atk / 0 Def – 0 atk / 0 Def]

As the traps were destroyed, the tokens lost their feral look on their bodies and returned to their harmless sheep like appearance. But seconds after returning to normal the mirror blasted them all from the field, destroying them as well.

[Black Sheep Token x3 – Destroyed]

Now the mirror began focusing on his field, starting with the backrow, swiping from left to right, then it moved to his monsters destroying Cyber Laser Dragon, Cyber End Dragon, and Cyber Dragon.

[Cyber Laser Dragon, Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Dragon, Super Strident Blaze, Cyber Network - destroyed]

"Grrrg... you may have wiped out my field but you've also destroyed my Cyber Network prematurely, when it's destroyed I can now special summon all of my banished light machine monsters! So now I bring back my Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Vier, and Cyber Dragon Core into defense mode! But their activated effects are negated!"

On the field a portal appeared and three Cybernetic Dragons appeared on the field to take up defensive postures on Zane's side of the field.

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

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

[Cyber Dragon Core, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 2, 400 Atk / 1500 Def]

[Effects Negated]

"Amusing, now comes the second effect... when this card is activated, I can now select one monster on either of our fields or in the graveyards and then create a Token of that monster, with the same name, attribute, level, type effects and stats. And I choose your Cyber End Dragon!"

On the mirror's face his Cyber End Dragon appeared, reflecting what had been on his field mere moments ago.

"Now... for the third and final collection of effects, for this card, as long as this mirror remains face up on the field, if the Token it summons is ever removed from the field for any reason, then the field spell special summons another token with the same name and stats and effects as the original. Also, as long as the Token is on the field, the spell that creates it cannot be removed from the field, nor can it be targeted or destroyed by card effects or replaced by another Field Spell from my deck or your hand or deck!" Saffira said. Finally, if for any reason the token is removed and the card is targeted for an effect, I can special summon the Token to the field as a Quick Effect, and if for any reason you attempt to negate or stop 'that' effect or try to destroy or remove the field spell 'after' I activate the effect, I can again activate as a Quick Effect the special summon of the Token! In other words, you'll never stop me!"

Zane for the first time actually was in disbelief as the number of effects and tricks this mirror does surpass any other card he'd ever heard of. A card that powerful simply could 'not' exist, it made the most broken cards in the game seem like fair and balanced normal monsters!

"That's not possible, that card has to be illegal, a card that strong can't possibly exist without 'some' kind of drawback!" Zane shouted.

"Yes... a card this possible 'can't' exist... in fact... officially it doesn't exist... it's an illegal card, the only reason it's even playable is because 'that man' did something to the database to make it exist... but you're in luck, because I managed to make some 'amendments' to it to give you a fighting chance... otherwise this card would have had 'no' drawbacks to using it." Saffira said with a sad smile. "So, pay attention... because this card has 'three' prices, each optional that I must pay, but 'you' get to choose."

"The first price I can pay, should you take it... in exchange for having all of these benefits, is that my current hand is sent to the grave face down, meaning neither of us can access or see those cards, my turn automatically comes to an end, and you get to draw 'six' new cards straight from your deck, and for the remainder of the duel I'm not allowed any other monster besides the token while the field is active." She said as she held up 'one' finger.

"The second price, should you take it... is that for the remainder of the duel, I can only draw cards by paying two hundred life points per turn provided I can pay the price, I skip my battle phase this turn, and you get to draw two cards at the start of your turn from this point onward!" She said holding up two fingers now.

"The third price, again should you pick it... is that I'm restricted from using 'one' face down card or face up card on the field, meaning any other non-monster face up card try to play automatically gets sent to the grave, and during your draw phase instead of drawing as you normally would, you instead add any card you wish from your deck to your hand!"

Zane heard the effects and he could see that she had put some serious restrictions on that card, all of those prices basically tied her hands, either she's stuck using only the token, she's unable to play more than one magic or trap card at a time, or she pays life points for every turn she has to draw. But he also noticed that 'two' of them effectively skips her turn... and the one that didn't basically gave the strongest 'draw effect' a duelist could ever hope for to their opponent. Honestly, he would really like that last one, but right now adding 'one' card to the hand while he had three monsters on the field with their effects negated, and only Cyber Kirin in the hand... he had to think carefully and quickly.

'Think Zane... alright, let's assume that you take that third effect. Your life points are at one thousand, hers are one thousand eight hundred. She's going to take Cyber End Dragon, you have 'one' choice to give yourself a fighting chance in this duel to make a comeback. Even if you take that third option, you can't survive the turn, Cyber End Dragon's attack value is 4000 and it deals piercing battle damage. Even if your monsters were in their strongest positions, none would have enough points to let you survive one blast. And even if you could... what would you add, Power Bond? You can't summon Cyber End Dragon again, he's in the graveyard... that leaves Cyber Twin Dragon, sure fifty-six hundred is nothing to sneeze at... but you'll only deal sixteen hundred damage, and then she brings the token back but in defense mode for the second attack... then you lose to the effect of power bond. Drawing two cards would be good, but you need an entirely new hand at that rate to deal with the Cyber End Dragon, and not just one, multiples!'

"Guess that leaves me with only one option... I'll take the first choice!" After thinking for only a minute.

"Very well, since I have no cards in my hand, I have nothing to discard, you may now draw 'six' new cards, and the only monster I'm permitted to use is the token the field gives me, on top of that my turn automatically comes to an end." Saffira said with a smile.

Zane did as told and drew his brand-new hand, adding six cards to the Cyber Kirin he still had, and afterwards the Mirror glowed, and Cyber End Dragon emerged from the mirror to stand before his monsters. It roared in its might before glaring down upon his field.

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

As for the cards he drew, he saw he'd drawn, [Power Bond, Cyber Repair Plant, Cyber Dragon Zwei, Cyber Dragon Nachster, Cybernetic Overflow, Monster Reborn.]

"Then it's my draw then, let's go!" He said as he drew, now having a hand of 'eight' cards, the card he drew being [Attack Reflector Unit].

He smiled as he had a chance now. "First off, I'm playing this, my 'second' copy of Cyber Repair Plant! Since I've a 'Cyber Dragon' still in the grave, I can now shuffle one light machine monster in my graveyard back into the deck, and I'll send Cyber Barrier Dragon!"

[Cyber Repair Plant]

Cyber Repair appeared and showed a crane lowering into Zane's graveyard, before extracting pieces of Cyber Barrier Dragon, putting them together into a box and then dropping it into his deck. To show this effect he took the card and placed it in the deck, shuffling it as it was placed.

"Next, I play Cyber Dragon Nachster, you remember him, don't you?" He said as he played the monster 'yet again'. "He summons a Cyber Dragon from my grave... and who's there right now?"

[Cyber Dragon Nachster, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 1, 200 Atk / 200 Def]

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

"Now then, I play 'two cards' face down... and end my turn!"

Outside the shadow bubble Joseph and his friends were no longer enthusiastic about the duel, they had just watched the back-and-forth action, and saw how Zane had lost 'all' of his momentum from the start. Now... he was on the backfoot, his own Cyber Dragon turned against him. In one fell swoop Zane's entire field was destroyed, but the one benefit that they still had for their hero now was that Zane's skill was just as impressive as always. He'd wiggled a huge win out of the duel given the circumstances, he had a full field, cards face down, and even a new hand.

All thanks to that field spell... something that 'confused' them at first.

"Okay what's going on here, that's not what the field spell did last time!" Chazz said with a glare. "Something fishy is going on... sure it wiped the field clean on both duelist's fields, but it didn't give Alexis a brand-new hand."

"Indeed... from what we saw after it activated and Alexis took her turn, she was able to draw 'two' cards... here Zane only got one, but he drew an entirely new hand."

"I don't like this... Zane's lost his best card, and now it's being turned against him... he can't take a hit from Cyber End Dragon!"

"Don't worry Sy... he's got cards and points still; he's still in this duel!"

"Yea... come on Zane! You can still win this bro... right Joseph?"

'He can still win this right... right master?' Tinkech asked nervously.

'Master... please say he'll win!' Nudyarl asked as she looked to him from his front, making him look down at her and the others.

'Yea... tell us... tell us he'll win still.' Lorpar said as she clutched his arm.

'If you say he'll win... then we'll believe you!' Ernus whispered with a hopeful smile.

He didn't know what to tell them, but he gently smiled to them and patted each of their heads, giving them gentle reassuring strokes on their heads that made them purr affectionately. "I don't know if he can win... but if anyone can win this still. It's Zane." He told them all.

Back in the bubble, Zane was panting as he waited for Saffira to take her turn. This duel was intense... more intense than he expected. But somewhere deep down, he was actually... having some fun, hard as it was to say a small part of him was 'enjoying' the challenge. Fighting an invincible version of his own Ace Monster, a field spell with broken effects, and if he makes 'one' mistake from here on out he's gone? Yea... this was both a difficult situation and a challenge he welcomed, a challenge that actually for the first time caused him to 'smile' however little it was.

'This is what dueling is all about, my only regret... is that Joseph can't see me 'smiling'.' Zane said. 'Cause I swear, Joseph would 'never' stop poking me about how I'm smiling... this is why I 'love' dueling.'

"My turn... I draw... and since this is a monster I can't play it... so I've no choice but to attack you with your own monster!" She declared as Cyber End Dragon prepared to attack Zane's Monsters. "Goodbye Zane... you fought well!"

Her attack launched and a massive burst of plasma flame smacked into Zane's Cyber Dragons. The resulting explosion obscured her vision, but she held no thoughts about Zane surviving, against his own monster with the effect it had, he could 'not' survive its assault. The field however... told another story as vision returned.

[Cyber Barrier Dragon, Light Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, lvl 6, 800 Atk / 2800 Def]

The Barrier Dragon was 'back', replacing one of Zane's two Cyber Dragon and it was casting a green shield, protecting the entirety of Zane's field, protecting his monsters from harm.

"Still Alive?"

"Heh, didn't think I wouldn't have ended my turn without a plan, did you?" Zane said loudly. "Now we have a new game to play, my Cyber Barrier Dragon versus 'your' Cyber End Dragon Token! As long as my Barrier Dragon is in attack, you're Token can't attack me or my monsters, meaning we're now in a stalemate!"

'Grrg... in other words, you're going to sit behind that barrier dragon until you can find a way to win, aren't you?"

"That's right... so now it's down to our decks, will mine give me the cards I can use to find a way to win this duel, or will yours give you a card to get rid of my Barrier Dragon?" He told her. "Let's find out, shall we? I draw!"

[Evolution Burst]

He nodded as he held up the card. "I end my turn, so it's your turn now!"

Saffira growled as she drew her next card and sneered. "I can't do anything... I pass!"

"Looks like finding out who's deck is going to help them first is going to happen faster than either of us realize at this rate." Zane said as he drew his next card. [Evolution Burst]

He smiled; this won't help him destroy the field spell but it 'will' help him learn more about how that token works with the field spell. "I activate Evolution Burst, now for not being allowed to attack with my Cyber Dragons, I can use this to destroy 'one' card on the field. So, let's destroy... that Token!"

His Cyber Dragons all roared as they combined their attacks and blasted the Token, evaporating and eviscerating it from the field. Yet the instant it was gone, the Mirror reflected the Cyber End Dragon and a new one emerged from it almost instantly.

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

"What was the point of that, I told you... as long as the Field Spell is in play, you can destroy the token a thousand times and it will be replaced a thousand and one times!" Saffira snarled.

"True... but I've learned something about that field spell... it's an automatic activation, meaning you 'can't' control its activation... and that's useful information! I end my turn!" He told her.

She panted as she drew her next card and smiled, before looking at Zane. "You are a worthy duelist... but I can't afford to lose this duel..." She said as she placed a face down trap card. "I end my turn with this card face down."

Zane stared at the face down and began sweating, his time was almost up as he drew his last card. [Cyber Eternal]

.

(Is this our last fight, by Shaheen Fahmy – Epic Music World) - for those wanting an 'epic' song to listen to while reading this section.

.

He looked at the face down and looked at his own, before he concluded that he was going to lose this duel very shortly. He didn't know what that face down was, but if she had put it down it 'had' to be a card that could either destroy his Cyber Barrier Dragon... or remove its protection against her Token. He thought about the duel, even though he suspected he was about to lose, he tried to think of a way to still win potentially... some win condition.

'Too bad my only fusion spell is Power Bond... I could use Cyber Eternal to return it to the extra deck and then fusion summon using Power Bond to fuse my Cyber Dragons to make it... but depending on that trap card all I'll be doing is going out with a bang. No... there's got to be another way... think Zane 'think'...'

He closed his eyes and thought... thinking... not to win this duel, because it seemed that was impossible given his current setup.

'Okay... so assume we can't win... let's accept that... even if we 'could' destroy the token, what's the point, it's automatically going to be summoned back... and as long as that Token is on the field, I can't target it or destroy, or remove the field spell from the field or 'anything'. And even if the Token isn't there, it's got so many protections to keep itself safe!'

That was when it hit him... it's 'protections'. It had a 'limit' to how often it could protect itself, and its only means of protection was the 'token', it's defenses only were active provided the Token it summoned was there. He can't win perhaps, but perhaps he can give Joseph a helping hand, a tip... he had to show him through the duel what the key was to beating that spell card.

"I activate Evolution BURST!" He shouted with a final defiant cry. "If this is our last turn, we're going down swinging! Cyber Dragons, DESTROY THAT TOKEN AGAIN!"

As one all of his Cyber Dragons minus Barrier charged up their evolution bursts and shot at the Cyber End Dragon.

"I activate my face down, the trap card, Attention!" Saffira shouted back as she activated her face down.

[When the trap card, Attention! Is activated, you can target 1 face up level 5 or lower monster your opponent controls, then destroy all face up monsters on the field with a different level than it.]

"Now because of this effect, I target that Cyber Dragon of yours, now all monsters on the field are 'destroyed' if they don't share the same level!"

From the field land mines began exploding, surrounding all of the monsters starting with Cyber End Dragon who was consumed by both the plasma fire and the mines exploding around it. But not just Saffira's Token, Zane's Cyber Dragons were also being blown up, first to be destroyed was Cyber Dragon Core, then Cyber Barrier Dragon, followed by Cyber Dragon Nachster, then finally Cyber Dragon Vier. The last remaining monster was the Cyber Dragon. But as the effect ended, the Token began to appear.

"Not so fast, I activate my final face down, Cybernetic Overflow!" Zane shouted as he quickly activated the trap card. "When this card is activated, I can banish Cyber Dragons from my grave, hand, and field as long as they have different levels, to destroy an equal number of cards you control! So I banish my final Cyber Dragon to destroy that field spell!"

Cyber Dragon began to shudder and spark, its body overflowing with energy as it gathered it all into one final Evolution Burst attack, before blasting the mirror with an overwhelming burst of plasma energy. Even as it fired its final shot the Cyber Dragon began exploding from the sheer magnitude of the energy it was releasing.

"As much as I would love to let this go through, I 'can't resist defending it'! I activate the effect of my Mirror, now I instantly summon a new Token to replace the one that was lost!" Saffira shouted.

The Mirror glowed and a new Token emerged to defend the mirror, absorbing the blast and leaving the mirror unharmed. But as the blast ended, a 'second' Token was on the field.

"Alas while it would be nice to have 'two' tokens on the field... your restriction forces me to only have one monster at any time, specifically the Token... as such the second goes away."

Zane sighed as he felt all of his reserves emptying... but he'd done his best... as the second token vanished, he smirked as he played his final cards.

"I activate Monster Reborn... to bring back my Cyber End Dragon! Then I play one final card... face down... and 'end' my turn."

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

Cyber End Dragon roared back onto the field thanks to the effects of Monster Reborn.

Zane smiled as he stood by his dragon, held up his duel disk, and stared defiantly at their opponent. "Hit me with your best shot... I'm ready!"

"As you wish... I draw!" Saffira declared as she tiredly drew her next card, looked at it, and then stared at Zane's monster. "Cyber End Dragon Token ATTACK!"

"Cyber End Dragon, Fight Back with everything you HAVE!"

Both Token and Dragon roared and launched equally powerful bursts of plasma energy, blasting each other to oblivion. Both Dragons exploded into balls of fire and dust clouds, but unlike Zane's the Cyber End Dragon Token was replaced instantly, appearing on the field and preparing to launch another assault.

"Since the new Token is treated as a new monster, it can attack as well, GO!"

But as the Token prepared to unleash its energy again, Zane grabbed his final card and lifted it up, shining a powerful light as Cyber End Dragon emerged from it, its body enveloped in a blistering energy as it once again re-emerged onto Zane's side of the field.

"I activate Cyber Eternal! Now I target my Cyber End Dragon from the graveyard to special summon him back to the field, ignoring his summoning conditions and bring him back for one final hurrah!" Zane said loudly. "And if my Dragon would be destroyed by card effect or by battle, I can banish this card instead to protect it!"

Saffira just gaped as again, again... 'again' this Cyber End Dragon would not go down... for a moment... she... wished that it 'were' the Dragon she was told to seek out.

Silently... as their two monsters prepared to clash, she closed her eyes and wept. "I wish you were the dragon... for your resolve... your skills... your courage... you would have given 'me' hope to keep fighting."

"Sorry, like I said... I'm no dragon." Zane replied as their dragons once more battled.

But unlike this time, Zane's Dragon did 'not' go away, as Cyber Eternal was on the field and vanished. Yet it was a moot point as another Token emerged to replace the one lost, and instantly it attacked... with Zane's counter attacking, refusing to go down without a fight. In a final burst of plasma and light, electrical energy and the fury of the Cyber Dragons... both Token and Non-Token were destroyed. But again... the mirror brought out 'another' replacement.

"Joseph... I leave the rest to you... because unlike my deck, yours has the tools to defeat that field spell!" Zane whispered as he watched his end approaching. "I only hope you were paying attention... and Syrus... sorry I couldn't win."

He was hit by a burst of white energy and plasma light. He could feel the heat emanating from his own Dragon. And when it ended, he collapsed to the ground onto his back, exhausted.

[Zane – 1000 – 0 / Saffira – 1800]

Zane was unconscious as he lay on the floor of the duel field, so without his feeling it, his body began to crystalize from his feet, to his knees, then waist and all the way to his head. Saffira walked over to him, smiling sadly as she exhaustedly picked up the statue and wept again, apologizing for this incident. As the Shadow Game concluded, the field containing them began to fade around them, returning to the reality around them.

Outside, everyone stared at the life point counter, unable... unwilling... incapable of believing what he was seeing.

"No... not Zane!" Joseph whispered in sheer horror.

"Bro... br... brother!" Syrus muttered with tears in his eyes.

"No way... she got Zane too?" Chumley muttered.

"Hrrrgn..." Chazz hissed with a frown.

"Impossible..." Bastion said with wide eyes.

Joseph's Dragonmaids were speechless, all of them silently weeping and crying as they saw and 'felt' their master's confusing emotions rolling around in his mind and heart.

The shadow bubble dispersed revealing an absolutely disheveled Saffira, panting and covered in burns. She actually fell to the floor on one knee, being very careful to hold onto a crystal statue in her clawed hand. She was gasping now, looking at them with bloodshot eyes, before closing said eyes and limping away.

"I am... sorry... but that... I must rest... we will meet again... tomorrow!" She tiredly said as the room began to fade to black before any of them could shout anything.

Seconds later Joseph and the others heard the sounds of the waves crashing against the pier as they opened their eyes and saw they were back where they started. Out in the distance a ship was sailing away, far out of range.

"GET BACK HEEEERE!" Joseph yelled angrily, tears running down his eyes as his friends held him back. "GIVE MY FRIENDS BACK, GIVE BACK MY FRIEND'S BROTHER! GET BACK HERE AND DUEL ME RIGHT NOOOOOOOOW!"

The only one not holding Joseph back, was Syrus, who just cried silently, unable to believe his brother lost... unable to believe that his 'brother'... could be beaten.

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'Young master... you must control those feelings that bubble and broil inside of you, for you are nothing more than a mere animal if you do not use that which separates you from those lesser beings. We cannot depend on you if your emotions are not in check. I know it pains you, and it pains us more so because we can feel that pain alongside you, and our desire to remedy that which pains you urges us to lash out as well! But you must guide our actions... not with anger or hatred... but with a clear mind and a good heart, for you affect us as much, if not more, then we affect you...'

'For you are our master... Our Master... of the Dragonmaids.'

Next Time, Joseph vs Saffira, Seiyaryu Ascends=

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I hope this duel was worth it, at least worth the weight... I apologize for how long this took, but if you read my other story, 'Isekai a Ship and her Captain', I'm feeling more motivated now so I was able to write this in about 7 days... give or take. And to make up for it I put extra effort into the duel to make it worthy of Zane Truesdale... I'm sorry if people wanted him to win, but for the story he had to lose, but he made sure not to lose like he did in the anime.

As for those wondering, yes... I KNOW scapeghost is a tuner, but in this universe, the card is used not as a tuner, similar to how the Yokai Girls (you know them, the Hand Traps) are treated as just hand traps and not used as tuners. In this world, tuners don't exist so... yea, just pretend its not a tuner and move on XD

Please... i'm exhausted reading so many cyber dragon card effects and trying to keep track of how they interact, lol