“Brrr,” went Starry Fields, arms wrapped around her body as she stood in snow that went halfway up to her knees. Thankfully, the seven year old girl now had on better clothing than the tattered, second hand rags her elder brother had found her in not too long ago. Now she wore brand new black snow boots, a new pair of jeans, and a heavy white winter coat along with it. However, the powerful winter winds blew heavily, catching her very long, dark brown hair and flinging it about. Not only that, but the winds also blew loose snow off the ground as well as from the surrounding pine trees to pellet the young girl’s face and ears.
“T-Tell me a-again why w-we are out h-h-here?” asked Starry though chattering teeth as she stared at Star Hunter. Hunter stood there, his only protection against the same elements being a tanned trench coat. He stood there, hands calmly in his pockets with his duel disk firmly attached to his wrist.
“Because you asked me to see if you were any good as a duelist,” said Hunter with a small smile on his face while his yellow slit eyes grew softer. “And I can’t think of a better place than this to have our first duel.” As he spoke, Hunter gestured to the woods around them where pine trees seemed to go on forever. Above them the stars shined brightly as they filled the night sky as there was little light pollution to dampen their glory. But that was not all, for behind Hunter was an old fashioned, two story log cabin cottage where lights shined through the window casting silhouettes on the snow. This had been a purchase he and his wife Moondancer had made the previous year, a place out in the middle of nowhere they could get away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world. While normally it would be just the two of them, this year it was being used as a place to hold a part of the New Year’s holiday.
“I-I thought we could d-duel i-indoors,” chattered Starry. “W-Who d-duels outd-doors in t-the s-snow?”
“I do, when the duel calls for it,” replied Hunter with perfect honesty. “And at least you’re on the ground. When the first ever Battle City Tournament took place, one of the elimination rounds took place on top of a zeppelin.” Groaning in defeat, just a little, Starry lifted her arm to show the new duel disk she had received from her brother.
Shall we go easy on her, came a voice that was all too familiar to Hunter. As he took his deck from the box on his hip, a ghostly image appeared next to him. The man, sensing her presence, barely glanced over to see what appeared at first to be a normal human maid with black hair tied up in a bun and round glasses on her face. But Hunter knew there was more to her. He had seen her enough to recall the horns sticking out of that black hair as well as the massive tail coming out the back of her dress.
No, we won’t Sheou, communicated Hunter with his mind as he used her true name rather than the title she held when in this form. A duel should always have both duelists giving it their all. Half hearted measures, no matter how well intended, never do anyone any good. Starry has already seen me duel, so she should be able to tell that I’m not giving it my all. That I’m only humoring her, that she’s not worth my best. Or even that I let her win out of pity.
I never said let her win, Master, said Sheou with a frown. As Hunter’s duel disk began to shuffle the cards in his deck, the duel spirit adjusted her glasses. Going all out on her here might crush more than just her life points. She might lose the desire to duel altogether if she can’t even make it past her first turn.
As Hunter’s solid light tray appeared, taking on the form of a dragon’s head, the man paused as he considered Sheou’s words before nodding. You have a point, he told her. Besides, the point of this is to see how good she is and how she can improve. I won’t be able to do that if this match ends too quickly.
Very good Master, said Sheou as she curtsied before vanishing. At the same time, Starry’s solid light duel tray appeared before her taking on the form of a purple sword.
“Lets duel!” they both shouted in unison to begin the duel.
Star Hunter’s Life Points: 8000
Starry Field’s Life Points: 8000
Turn one: Star Hunter
“Let’s see how you fare against an established field. I draw!” Said Hunter as he drew (hand: 6). Briefly he glanced at it before nodding to himself. “I’ll start by summoning Parlor Dragonmaid in attack mode!” As Hunter placed the card on the holo-tray, a young woman with green hair tied into twin tails appeared on the field holding a silver tray in one hand. Parlor Dragonmaid (500/1700) wore what appeared to be a traditional black maid uniform along with a white apron, albeit the skirt was still short and she was wearing green stockings. But despite her very human-like appearance, there were some giveaways to what she really was. For poking out of the girl’s hair were green horns that were only noticeable because they were several shades darker than her hair. Pressing against her hips were small green wings pressed against her hips and a tail could be seen poking out from underneath her skirt.
“When Parlor is summoned to the field, I can send one Dragonmaid card from my deck to the graveyard,” said Hunter as Parlor pulled a candy from out of her skirt, tossed it into the air, and caught it with her mouth. “I send Dragonmaid Changeover to the grave. Then I’ll set one card face down and leave Parlor to entertain you until my next turn.”
Turn two: Starry Fields
“Really? That’s all you’re going to do?” demanded Starry with a frown as she drew (hand: 6). “Are you trying to throw the match or something? Why didn’t you summon it in defense mode?!?”
“Don’t worry about me,” replied Hunter, his words causing Starry’s cheeks to puff.
“You’re not taking me seriously, are you?!” she all but yelled. “Fine, I’ll make you take me seriously with this card: Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight!” As she placed the card on the tray, Starry was nearly thrown back and into the snow as a figure holding a lance in each hand appeared above her riding a dragon. Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300/2100) then leapt off his mount and landed in the snow, resting one of his weapons on his shoulder as he struck a pose. “I had to collect cans for a week to afford this card! What makes him special is that if you control a monster and I don’t, my knight will fling himself into battle to even the score without a tribute!”
Starry then held up another card, showing it to Hunter with her hand shaking slightly due to the cold before placing it on her duel disk. “Next I activate the spell card: Spiral Spear Strike!” she continued. “Now when Lord Gaia or any of my other Gaia knights attack a defense position monster, you’ll take damage even if they’re in defense mode! Lord Gaia, show my big brother what knights did to dragons!” Lord Gaia instantly jumped into the air, his spears beginning to glow with power before flinging them both at Parlor.
However…
“I activate my face down: Dragonmaid Send-Off!” declared Hunter. “This card lets me trade one Dragonmaid monster on my field with another in my hand. So I’ll summon Dragonmaid Chamber in defense mode!” Parlor waved goodbye before vanishing, replaced with a new maid at once. Chamber Dragonmaid (500/1800) dressed in black, with light blue horns coming out of her blond hair that were tipped black. Wings rested on her hips, only instead of webbing, hers had bluish feathers and she had a long black tail coming out of her maid uniform. “Now that she has been summoned, her effect kicks in letting me add any Dragonmaid spell or trap from my deck to my hand. So I’ll be adding Dragonmaid Hospitality.”
“So what?” asked Starry with a frown. “She’s not strong enough to protect you from Lord Gaia!” As she said that, the spears were flung at Chamber like twin missiles. Both of them struck Chamber, bouncing off her seemingly harmlessly, yet the wind caused by the shock wave of the attack struck Hunter.
-Star Hunter Life Points: 7500-
“Not a bad move,” said Hunter with a slight smile. “Got anything else for me?”
“No, I think I’m good,” said Starry as her monster landed in front of her, spears in both hands as it took on a standby pose. At the same time, Starry began to breathe into her hands.
Turn Three: Star Hunter
“Very well. I draw,” cried Hunter as he drew (hand: 6). Hunter then looked at what he had drawn, showing only the briefest grin before making his move. “I activate the effect of Dragonmaid Changeover in my graveyard, returning both it and the Chamber on my field to my hand. Then I will summon Kitchen Dragonmaid to the field in attack mode!” Now appearing on the field was a woman with long red hair with two curved blue horns sticking out of it. Unlike Parlor, Kitchen Dragonmaid (500/1700) wore a red maid’s uniform that looked more like a gown with long sleeves and a skirt that went all the wait to her feet along with a white apron in the front. Wings pressed against her apron while her tail peaked out from under her uniform. She smiled at the knight while holding a black frying pan in her hand.
“When Kitchen is summoned, I can add any Dragonmaid monster from my deck to the hand. Well, other than a copy of herself,” explained Hunter as his duel disk produced a scene before him, showing him all his options. Briefly he scanned it before pressing on one of the images that only he could see. “I’ll be adding Dragonmaid Ernus to my hand. However there is a cost to this effect: discarding one Dragonmaid monster to the graveyard. So I’ll send Parlor there…for now.”
Smiling, Hunter inserted a spell card into his duel disk. “Now time to show some Hospitality! I’ll use this card to bring back Parlor from the graveyard!” Hunter watched as a trap door appeared on the field, opening up to reveal Parlor as if she were coming out of a basement or something. “Now Hospitality’s other effect kicks in, letting me send a Dragonmaid of the same attribute but a different level from my deck to the graveyard. Meaning Lorpar will be sent.” A card slid out of Hunter’s deck and he placed that into the graveyard slot. “But she won’t be the only one heading there. Parlor’s effect kicks in again so I’ll send Dragonmaid Tinkhec this time.” Another card shot out of Hunter’s deck, quickly sent to the graveyard.
“Now it’s time to battle,” said Hunter, still smiling. “I return Kitchen and Parlor back to my hand in order to summon their dragon forms from the graveyard! Arise Dragonmaid Lorpar and Dragonmaid Tinkhec!” Both maids grinned at the knight as their bodies began to glow, red for kitchen and green for Parlor. Together they rose into the air, the glow around them getting brighter and brighter as their forms began to change into a more draconic. Kitchen soon took on the form of Tinkhec (2700/1700), a massive red dragon with a white underbelly which almost resembled her apron when one took the light blue thorn like spikes coming out of her shoulder. As for Parlor, she became Dragonmaid Lorpar (2700/1700), a massive green dragon whose long hair ran down her neck while her horns almost looked like leaves. Not only that but it looked as though plants were growing on the dragon’s back.
Both dragons looked down at the smaller knight…who began to glow himself!
“I knew you would do that sooner or later,” declared Starry. “Thankfully, Lord Gaia rises to the challenge whenever you summon a monster with higher attack than he has. Seeing a stronger foe gets his blood pumping and raises his attack by 700!” Indeed Lord Gaia (3000) stomped one of his plated feet as he bent down a little, looking like he was ready to leap into action at any moment.
“Not bad sis,” replied Hunter as he ended the battle, his dragons returning to their maid forms. “I’ll add Tinkhec and Lorpar back to my hand in order to bring back Kitchen and Parlor in attack mode. Then I’ll set two cards face down and end my turn.”
Turn Four: Starry Fields
“Bad move there,” said Starry as she drew (hand: 5), her monster’s attack already returning to normal. “My knight’s power boost only lasts until the end of the turn. Too bad for you.” Hunter said nothing, he just kept smiling as he watched his sister looking over her hand. No doubt trying to see how she could capitalize on what she thought was a huge misstep on his part.
“I’ll play the spell card: Reinforcements of the Army!” she said as she placed a clearly worn card into her duel disk. “Now I can add a warrior monster in my deck to my hand. A monster like Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight! And he’ll be joining us on the field now!” Leaping onto the field was a warrior covered in black armor from head to toe. Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight (1800/1600) did, however, have a few areas around the joints that were exposed showing something glowing red.
“Now I’ll attack both your monsters!” shouted Starry, her breath being seen across the field while her free hand was clenched into a fist. There was then a pause and, even though it was night, Hunter could see Starry’s eyes fixed on the two maids standing between her warriors and him. It was clear that she was waiting for him to use their effect, returning them to the hand in order to bring out their dragon forms. However, Hunter did no such thing. Both maids just stood there with Hunter showing no signs that he was going to do anything.
Slowly the little girl lowered her head until Hunter could no longer see her face. “Do I really suck so much?” she asked, her voice filled with hurt. She then looked up, eyes flaring with anger and frustration. “You could at least pretend to be trying!”
“Are you suggesting that I’m not?” asked Hunter, a slight smile on his face as he gestured with his hand. “Then please, by all means, attack.”
“I will!” shouted Starry as she took a step forward. “Lord Gaia, attack-”
“Before you do that, I activate my trap card: Dragonmaid Downtime,” interrupted Hunter as his face down card became revealed. “Each turn, I can pick between one of two effects. Right now, I’m going with the first which lets me return a Dragonmaid on the field to my hand in order to search out another one. So Parlor gets a break from the field while I call on Nurse Dragonmaid.” Parlor waved goodbye to Kitchen before vanishing in a golden light, the card reappearing in Hunter’s hand while another card was ejected from his deck.
“That just means you’ll take more damage!” roared Starry as Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight leapt into the air to fling his weapons at Kitchen. Both spears began to spin so fast the one could see the air spiraling around with it.
However…
“No, that means you’ll have no other targets after I do this,” said Hunter simply as he discarded a card from his hand. At that moment, a large red glow began to surround Kitchen. It expanded outwards, quickly taking the form of Tinkhec while Kitchen’s long red hair began to rise up. The pleasant look on her face never wavered as she lifted the pan in her hand. As the spears drew dangerously close, they collided with the back of the frying pan and Kitchen, with the skills similar to that of a tennis pro, sent them hurdling back towards Lord Gaia.
-Starry Field’s Life Points: 7800-
“B-but how?” asked Starry as her monster exploded into thousands of tiny golden lights.
“Dragonmaid Tinkhec has an effect that can activate from the hand,” explained Hunter calmly. “By discarding her, I can give any of my Dragonmaids on the field an additional 2000 attack points. That gave Kitchen the edge she needed to defeat your knight.” Kitchen Dragonmaid (2500) tilted her head to the side, still smiling with her eyes closed in the most pleasant manner possible.
“Starry, you are not doing too bad,” said Hunter while his sister gave him a dumbfounded look. “Your knight was an impressive monster. Easy for you to special summon and gains a nice little attack boost whenever your opponent tries to bring out a strong monster. That, along with your spell card, gives you a nice little edge.” Then Hunter shook his head. “However, you can’t rush into battle without thinking things through. I saw how your monster grew in attack power when I summoned my dragons, so didn’t you think it was odd that I didn’t put their maid forms in defense mode?”
Starry’s eyes widened a bit before taking a step forward. “I…I thought that you would just special summon them as dragons during my next attack.”
Hunter nodded in approval. “A valid theory,” he said. “Had I done that, then the damage I would have taken would have been far less than what they would have been in their smaller forms. Not only that, but I would have been able to bring their smaller forms back to my hand in order to use their effects once more. But, that’s not what I did. I left them on the field along with a face down card.” Hunter then gestured to his monster. “Starry, that should have given you a little pause. You need to expand your focus to more than just the monsters.”
Starry said nothing at first, choosing to instead avert her gaze as her body shook. Though, not from the cold. “I guess,” she began before she paused. She then took a breath, and when she spoke again, Hunter could hear the lump in her throat being pushed back. “I’ve seen you duel before. So I…I know you can be doing better than this. That you were just going to let me…just to get…that I wasn’t worth the effort.”
Hunter stood there as he listened to Starry mumble out her response. His hand squeezed in anger slightly, though not at her. It was more towards the two that had no doubt fostered this belief that she wasn’t worth much…and at himself for making her feel like that.
“Starry, you’re right that I’m not going all out on you,” said Hunter. “But I’m not going easy on you…I’m toying with you.” At that, Kitchen looked back at him with a shocked expression on her face. But Hunter barely noticed it as he focused on Starry’s expression which seemed confused. “I mean, there’s no way to see how good you are if I defeat you in one shot. So I’ll keep this up until I’m ready to finish this. Now, are you going to make me regret that decision?” As Hunter said this, Kitchen’s expression softened before nodding at him.
“I,” began Starry before her expression shifted to a more confident and determined one. She gave him such a powerful nod that her hair bounced. “I’ll make you regret that when I win!”
“That’s the spirit!” said Hunter. “So, are you going to do anything else this turn?”
Starry didn’t reply right away. Instead looking at her hand for a moment with a frown. For a moment, she averted her gaze from her hand to look up in a way that her cards covered the lower portion of her face. “I’ll set a couple of facedowns and end my turn,” she said at last as two cards appeared in front of her.
Turn Five: Star Hunter
“Alright! I draw!” announced Hunter as he drew (hand: 7). Only briefly did he look at his hand before taking one of the cards in his hand and revealing it. “I activate the spell card: Dragonmaid Changeover. With this card I can fuse my Nurse and Chamber Dragonmaids in order to bring out something a bit more powerful.” As Starry’s eyes widened in fear and took a step back, Hunter inserted his spell card into the duel disk. As soon as he did this, massive double doors appeared on the field right behind him instead of the normal vortex from above. From his hand, his cards turned into beams of colored light (black and pink respectfully) that traveled onto the field and landed on either side of the door. There they briefly took on the forms of the maid appearance, curtsying before they turned into beams once again which flew into the tiny space between the doors. “From the depths of the laundry all the way to the parlor and beyond, this home is under your watchful eye. Head maid of this home, guide those under your care! Fusion Summon: House Dragonmaid!” As the chant ended, the doors slowly opened as a figure walked onto the field. House Dragonmaid (3000/2000) wore an old fashioned Victorian styled maid uniform, black with a white apron in front. Round glasses covered her eyes which seemed to glint as she stepped forward, a hand going up to her black hair which was tied back. Horns that reminded Hunter of a bull stuck out of her hair while red webbed wings rested gently on her sides. And coming out of her back was the longest, thickest tail yet. It had a white underbelly with red scales on top, black ridges on its top.
“But she isn’t the only maid I’m bringing out,” said Hunter as Kitchen curtsied to the senior maid. “Come on back: Parlor!” Appearing on the field again was Parlor…who was in the middle of eating a massive piece of meat, holding it by the bone sticking out of its sides. House saw this, her glasses flashing dangerously before coughing into her fist. Parlor stopped at once, quickly hiding the meat behind her and trying to wave it off.
“Next, I activate my face down: Dragonmaid Welcome!” continued Hunter. “First off, all my monsters get an extra 100 attack points for each Dragonmaid. But I also get something more. Since I control more than two Dragonmaids I can add one Dragonmaid monster back to my hand. So I’ll be adding Chamber.” As Hunter added the card from his graveyard back to his hand, he watched as Starry seemed to brace herself for what was to come. “Next I play The Claw of Hermos! I’ll use this card to transform the Chamber I just added to my hand into Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!” From his hand flew the dragon Hermos as well as Chamber Dragonmaid. Together they flew up before merging into one in a burst of light. Then, something fell to the ground landing next to House Dragonmaid. It was the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword (2400/2000), a wicked looking black blade and a cross-guard shaped like the Red-Eyes head.
“I will then activate its effect, equipping it to my House,” said Hunter. House reached over and took the weapon, gently caressing the side of the blade as though it were a cherished item. “With this blade, House gains an extra 1000 attack points as well as 500 for every dragon in the graveyard.” House gently readied the blade as her attack rose; the images of Chamber, Nurse, and Tinkhec appearing around her as her attack grew (5800).
“Time for battle,” finished Hunter, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Kitchen and Parlor will return to my hand so that I can special summon Lorpar and Tinkhec!” Once more the two maids on the field began to glow, transforming into a familiar green and red dragon. Lorpar let out a roar as she began to feel the effect of Dragonmaid Welcome empowering her (3000) while Tinkhec closed her eyes as if to calmly embrace it (3000). As for House, her attack faded slightly as there was now one less dragon in the grave (5300).
“House’s effect activates,” said Hunter as one of House’s hands left the blade. “Since a Dragonmaid returned to my hand, I can destroy a monster of yours.” House then made a sweeping, backhanded motion that sent a powerful wind across the field that knocked Starry’s knight off his feet before being destroyed. Now Starry stood alone.
“House, attack,” said Hunter. House raised the blade above her head before swinging it, sending a wave of dark energy flying toward the young girl who quickly pressed a button on her duel disk. The attack hit, sending her flying back and rolling in the snow. But, despite this, her life points did not decrease.
“Good thing I found Defense Draw in the bargain bin at the dollar store,” said Starry as she got up on her elbows, snow falling off her face as she looked at Hunter. “All damage I took from that attack is now reduced to zero and I get to draw a card.” Slowly, Starry managed to get onto her feet. As she took several deep breaths, she drew a card.
“Very good since it means you’ll survive this turn,” responded Hunter with a proud nod. “Lorpar, attack her directly!” Lorpar nodded before taking a deep breath. She then unleashed a blast of green mist with leaves mixed in towards Starry, the attack smelling strongly of mint.
-Starry Field’s Life Points: 4800-
“Great! Tinkhec, you’re up!” shouted Hunter. Tinkhec nodded before unleashing a massive stream of flames from her maw which surrounded Starry. Despite knowing that these were mere holograms, the young girl cried out if terror while she raised her arms.
-Starry Field’s Life Points: 1800-
“With that, I’ll return my dragons to my hand so that I can return Kitchen and Parlor back to the field in defense mode,” said Hunter as his dragons began to glow once more, shrinking until they became his two smaller maids who took a knee. “And with that, I’ll end my turn.”
Turn Six: Starry Field
“I can do this! I draw!” yelled Starry as she drew (hand: 4).
“During the standby phase, House’s effect activates,” said Hunter, smiling as House adjusted her glasses with one hand. “House keeps a tight shift and it is now that she can call on help from either my hand or the graveyard as long they are one level higher or lower than a Dragonmaid on the field. Since both monsters on the field are level four, lets summon Nurse.” House nodded before planting the sword in the ground for a moment so that she could clap her hands. At that moment, a portal appeared in the ground in which Nurse rose up from in defense mode. Nurse Dragonmaid (500/1600) took on the form of a young woman in a pink maid uniform whose skirt was a little on the short side carrying a clipboard which she held in front of her as a shield. Her braided hair had a whitish lavender or perhaps silver color to it with small horns sticking out. Claws were coming out of her shoe while pink wings and a tail came out of her backside. “And when Nurse is summoned, she gets to work healing one of the injured Dragonmaids resting in the graveyard so that they can start their shift once more. So come back Chamber!” And just like that, Chamber returned to the field, giving Hunter five monsters. “Of course her effect kicks in as well, letting me add Hospitality to my hand in case I need it.”
“T-That,” began Starry as she looked at what was before her. She then looked down at the card she had just drawn before getting a determined look. “I can do this! First I’ll activate my face down: Call of the Haunted! With this, I can bring back my Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!” As the face down was activated, Gearfried exploded from the ground, seeming to send bits of snow and frozen earth in every direction. “Next, I’ll equip him with my Cursed Bamboo Sword! This will activate my monster’s effect allowing him to destroy one of your spell or trap cards by destroying the card I just equipped onto him. I hope your maid isn’t too attached to that sword because its about to be scrapped!” As a broken, wooden sword appeared in Gearfried’s hand a force traveled across the field which shattered the Red-Eyes blade. House looked shocked as it fell to pieces, watching them fall to the ground before her until they vanished while her attack boost dropped (3500).
“Next I’ll activate my cursed sword’s effect. When it’s sent to the Graveyard, I can draw another Bamboo Sword card from my deck. So I’ll take Broken Bamboo Sword and equip it onto my knight. Now I’ll play the spell card: Golden Bamboo Sword!” continued Starry, her voice sounding more confident. “While a Broken Bamboo Equip Spell is on my field, this card lets me draw two more cards.” Quickly she drew, no doubt hoping she could draw what she needed. She then held up a familiar card. “And lucky me it’s not a hard once per turn, which means I can use this copy of it to draw two more times!” She quickly looked down at her hand with a smile.
“It’s here,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. She then looked up, brimming with confidence. “I’m about to show you my best. And to do that, I summon Artillery Catapult Turtle!” Landing on the field so hard that it shook the ground was a large armored, mechanical turtle (1000/2000). “Then I’ll activate its effect, allowing me to tribute one monster in order to summon Gaia The Fierce Knight! And the monster I choose is my Turtle!” The new monster began to glow as an orb appeared on its back on the launch railing. It was then ejected right as the monster vanished, transforming into the original knight on horseback.
“Now watch as I summon up a monster that is the great tamer of dragons,” continued Starry as she inserted a spell card into her duel disk, a vortex appearing above her. “One that uses them as his mounts, slaying the unruly of their kind! And to do that I play Spiral Fusion to fuse my Gaia with the Curse of Dragon in my hand! Great and fearless knight, one whose spears pierce all. Tame this wretched dragon now as you enter this war. Fusion Summon: Gaia the Magical Knight of Dragons!” Rather than entering the vortex, an almost serpent like dragon with bat wings and horns coming from its underbelly flew down from the vortex. Seeing this, Gaia leapt from its horse to land on top of the dragon to become Gaia the Magical Knight of Dragons (2600/ 2100).
“Spiral Fusion gives my monster two nice little boosts,” said Starry as she looked up at her monster. “First, it gives Gaia a nice attack boost of 2600! Not only that, he can attack twice!” As she spoke, an aura-like glow began to surround Gaia until it began to become focused in its spears (5200). “What’s more, Gaia has effects of his own. Once per turn, when he destroys a monster in battle, he’ll gain another 2600 attack points. Meaning he’ll always be getting stronger. But that’s not his greatest ability. By giving up 2600 attack points, I can destroy one card on your side of the field. And since House is the biggest threat, I’m destroying her!” At her command, Gaia thrusted his spear forward, launching the glow around his weapon right at House. The attack impaled her, shattered her glasses as she fell backwards and exploded.
“Not bad Starry,” said Hunter calmly.
“But you haven’t seen anything, because now I play Foolish Burial to send my Red-Eyes Black Dragon from the deck to the graveyard,” explained Starry, her words having an effect on Hunter. At first, his eyes widened with both shock and surprise before taking a step forward in anticipation for what she was about to do. “Next I activate the effect of my Gearfried: by sending my Broken Bamboo Sword to the grave, I can summon Red-Eyes back to the field!” Gearfried tossed the broken wooden sword to the side as a thin, black dragon rose from the ground letting out a fierce roar as it did so.
“With this, everything is set,” said Starry as she took a breath. She then looked at Hunter, her eyes full of seriousness. “I only managed to get this card because someone threw it away, thinking it wasn’t good enough. But to me, it is my prized card! And I’ll bring it out using the Polymerization in my hand to fuse both my dragon and Gearfried! Dip your scales with armor of the warrior to make them stronger than steel. Make them sharper, blades that can cut through anything. Now arise my heart, my soul! Fusion Summon: Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!” As both monsters on the field were sucked into the vortex, Hunter watched as Gearfried’s armor flew off of him. It enlarged itself before merging onto the Red-Eyes to cover its head, arms, and torso. Likewise blades grew on the sides of its arms, large and curved and ready to kill. When all was said and done, Red-Eyes Slash Dragon (2800/2400) took its place next to Gaia the Magical Knight of Dragons.
Red-Eyes, the monster that seems to be linked to my family, thought Hunter as he stared up at the dragon. Chaser used its burning skill while I chose its ritual version. And now Starry has found it via the way of the warrior.
“Now to take down your field,” said Starry with a grin.
“Oh, and how do you plan to do that?” asked Hunter casually. “Once the battle starts, my maids will take on their dragon forms making them far stronger. And with Dragonmaid Welcome on the field, they will all be stronger than either of your monsters.”
“Not all of them,” said Starry as she pointed to Chamber. “As far as I know, she doesn’t have a dragon form. Meaning she’ll stay on the field, weak, while the others take on their bigger forms. With Gaia getting two attacks, he’ll easily crush her before gaining another 2600 attack points before swinging at another maid. Then Slash Dragon will be able to take down whichever monster I want. Now time for battle! Gaia-” Starry’s words were cut short as all four of Hunter’s maids began to glow. Starting with Chamber! “Wait! I thought that she couldn’t-”
“Chamber Dragonmaid can return to my hand at the start of the battle to special summon any level seven or higher Dragonmaid monster in my hand or the graveyard,” said Hunter. “And I just so happen to have one in the grave that you sent. Please start your shift again: House Dragonmaid!” And just like that, House returned to the field holding her broken glasses in one hand. She pocketed them before pulling out a new pair which she placed in front of her eyes.
“N-No way,” gasped Starry as the other Dragonmaids transformed. Each time they did, a monster of hers was destroyed via the same backhanded motion by House until all her monsters were gone. With no cards in her hand or on the field, they both knew it was over.
But, before she could fall to her knees, Hunter had approached his little sister and embraced her in a hug. One that caught her by surprise as she stiffened from the gesture. “Starry,” he said calmly and with all the love he could give. “I want you to know you are always worth the effort. Always.” As he said this, Hunter could feel Starry’s hands clenching at the back of his jacket tightly while tears began to form on her face.
“Not a bad duel,” came a familiar voice to Hunter followed by muffled hand claps. The pair briefly parted to look to the side, spotting a fancy red sports car parked in the driveway with a flame haired woman standing in front of it. Upon seeing her, Starry gasped.
“Y-You’re Sunset Shimmer! Y-You’re one of my favorite duelists!” gasped Starry. Sunset grinned at that, a hand going to her deck box as she approached the pair.
“Nice to meet a fan,” she said. “Of course, your brother’s not too shabby either. Heard you and Breaburn finally got your rematch. Sorry I wasn’t there to see it.”
“Hey, I’m glad you could make it,” replied Hunter. “It’ll be like old times.”
“Old times?” asked Starry as she looked at the pair.
“Yep,” said Sunset. “We went to the same High School back in the day.”
“Speaking of, are the others coming? I heard AJ just won a tournament last month,” asked Hunter as he looked towards the snowy, empty road that Sunset had just come down.
“She did,” said Sunset as she shifted in her stance, making a gesture with her hand as she did so. “Did it to help pay some bills that had piled up on the farm. I keep telling her that she could be racking in plenty more money if she just went full pro instead of just entering a tournament here and there, but you know how stubborn she is. Keeps telling me that there is work that needs to be done on the farm and that needs to come first.” Sunset then let out a sigh. “Anyways, she and the others are coming. They all decided to meet up at the farm and are taking the old band bus.”
“And does that include Twilight?” asked Hunter. At that, Sunset winced and looked away causing Hunter to give her a concerned look. “What? I thought you two were on better terms these days.”
“Well, civil terms are better than when we first met,” she said. “But, honestly, we’ve barely talked since I left CHS and she left Crystal Prep. What about you? Is your old gang showing up?”
As if to answer her question, the door to the cabin opened revealing Moondancer. “Are you guys coming in anytime soon?” she called out as Wallflower and Autumn Blaze peaked out from behind.
For the rest of the right, from them until the stroke of midnight, Hunter introduced Starry to many of his friends from school. All of them seemed to want to revel in the past, recounting story after story of the times they shared and the game that brought them closer. Some were embarrassed about how they acted while others seemed to overly dramatize the past. They way they talked, Starry could almost see the events unfolding before her as she slowly closed her eyes.
